High Rollers: Aerois #69 | Portal Through Space and Time

[@snowts]

Meanwhile at a Starbane operation center, someone is getting a report from a police weapons scanner showing a load of travelers in the empire detected packing around a mess of Eterna...

[@weslooos]

Starbane? you mean the Emperor of mankind. Hail big E

[@dragongaming2796]

The party - “ah yes, let’s go on this small simple quest to get some extra pocket change- we’ll be back tomorrow oriya” Mark, his campaign notes, and the dice - “how about no”

[@Quantanimobay]

Dragon Gaming, 😂😂😂

[@Quantanimobay]

Captain NCE, uh... you good?

[@animewarrior3]

You mean just mark railroading the shit out of it. 8 success, 3 failures, DC of 20-25 in 5e. The highest any party member can get is +10 base and only nova can do that. Everyone else gets +9 at best. Assuming they even have the spell slots to do it. (Unlikely). That's mark more or less setting them up to fail the challenge. He had planned, and intended, for them to fail. It didn't matter what they did, long as they messed with the rift it would close. Failure or not. 2. He planned for one of them to get planeshifted. He even bent the rules to allow them all to be shifted. It didn't matter what they rolled, one would just happen to roll planeshift because he wanted them to go wherever he intended.

[@nakkers234]

It was up to luck, it wasn’t even close to rail roading, also it was only a 12.5% chance of one of them getting plane shifted

[@dylanba5251]

@@nakkers234 5 chances to roll a 1 on a d8 is like 50% chance

[@Trigun99]

They found buyers for the Starbane statue.

[@BlackIronHero]

Always look for that silver lining

[@mafiablokes]

I think it would be a cool twist if that elf prince the banshee was on about actually turned out to be Lucius who was trying to get back to Aerois in the near future 😆

[@Matthew-pd4zx]

I had this exact thought, it was Lucious from the future!

[@Dailyhumorhub69]

Like they never got back to Aerois and he just kept reaching out to that girl 👀👀👀 whaaaaat

[@jamesmaceaveli6679]

"Keep your infernal britches in your armour" Has got to be one of my favourite things mark has ever said.

[@Ghillie_Monster]

Spoilers I guess... All I can think of for this storyline is F•R•I•E•N•D•S in space: So no one told you life was gonna be this way. (Clap clap clap clap) In a twist, sucked through a rift Aerois is M.I.A! Landed on a planet run by Valkyrr (sp) Now you don't know the day, the month, or even the year, but I'll be there for you (As you barter in the town) I'll be there for you (Saying "Praxis Val" with a frown) I'll be there for you (When Starbane forces track you down)

[@K1ng3659]

Bravo

[@captainbloodloss1]

mark really needs to tone down the events that give a 1% chance of yeeting the party through time and space because that seems to have happened twice already

[@a.garcha199]

It was a 1/8 chance so 12.5% chance

[@toshomni9478]

The dice were really letting them down there at the end. Some things were just meant to be.

[@BlackIronHero]

It's happened twice, but maybe Mark has had like 30 throughout the campaign that they've avoided. Who knows?

[@liamross340]

@@BlackIronHero Yeah we don't know. Maybe every combat encounter had this possibility and they've been incredibly lucky

[@animewarrior3]

No it was a 100% chance. He set them up to fail, then just said. "Oh look, X result" come look at this cool thing I want you to. Can't let ya make too much headway

[@reversed8479]

This went from "oh a cool boss fight is brewing" to "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

[@mikewithington4755]

Yeah went from 0 to 100 real quick... and then 1000

[@MystLunarabne]

Spoilers It seems fitting that in episode 69 they teased a hole and ended up with it exploding all over them.

[@rogerswil97]

8:13 - Dun Duns 9:10 - Recap 10:47 - Beginning 1:21:06 - Donations & Break 1:30:14 - End of Break 2:45:55 - End & Donations 2:59:55 - Fan Art!!!

[@The_Monster_King0]

Thank you

[@wizzzard999]

Just btdubs, Aila still has her Duskwillow coin, so if push comes to shove, she can buy a ticket for 5 on the giant spider ship XD

[@evilnerd666]

that skill challenge at the beginning was clearly designed for them to fail it, DC 20-25 is *insane* for something that requires multiple skill checks, even at Level 9 with their bonuses 8 successes before 3 failures is railroading them into failure

[@joaozin156]

I don't think they were railroaded into failure. They got very close to succeeding the challenge, but they failed because of a combination of horrible luck and some 'questionable' plays from the party. But that's the way it goes sometimes. So yeah i disagree, i think Mark gave them a tough, but fair objective, and they just failed, which is fine because Mark created a scenario where failure still resulted in something interesting happening.

[@gkurl]

​@@joaozin156what would you consider a non-questionable play if you were playing? Just out of curiosity.

[@thatmooseman]

Opening fan music none Episode Start at 0:00 Sponsors at 1:09 Announcements at 6:14 DUN DUNS at 8:13 Recap starts at 9:12 Recap ends at 10:48 Break start at 1:21:07 Break ends at 1:30:13

[@ChronoBolt]

Quill over here dropping truth bombs and shaking the very foundations of Hadriel's ENTIRE understanding of the universe

[@blackh9604]

One thing I LOVE about Aerois is how much things can change at a moment's notice. There are SO MANY possibilities at any give moment. Mark is a madlad

[@ProxyMatron]

Finally caught up from halfway through the lightfall campaign to here. You guys have been a blessing for content in the quarantine and I can't wait to watch live episodes of Aerois and Straud.

[@AmandaRokk]

Methinks Mark is having fun with his buddy's dunamancy spells ;) Great fit for Hadar. I'm so here for it!

[@williamleader9147]

TOM MAKE sure u use sending to tell the crew what happened!

[@Yourpaljill]

❗️SPOILERS❗️ Hey, I have a small question Is Helios with Sentry?!?!?!?!? I hope not, I really hope not. Helios got upset when they just talked about Starbane and Hadar, but now they got teleported to a Planet ruled by Starbane, by Hadar!

[@reedk2402]

Helios stayed on the ship

[@aldaron1021]

Transported to a planet a billion light-years away, policeman speaks Common...aaaaah the magic of DnD

[@SuperTy1122]

Buy Sentinel Prime a jet pack, make it a part of her design like the fire lance, magnify, fly a giant Aeroisian Guardian off planet and back to Aerois

[@stevenbeagle7040]

Whell that's that for ever seeing the storm wall throws paper into air

[@Techstriker1]

Whats-his-face (Rave's character) is going to be waiting a lot longer now...

[@Ryquard1]

This episode man, this freaking episode almost gave me an axiety attack, a stroke, a panic breakdown man I was hyperventilating, no media have ever done this to me ever, Mad job Mark and crew and props to the dice gods for such rollercoaster

[@zakvis7282]

Hey I felt the same. I find I have to pause the ep for a min before continuing😅 Its good, but sometimes it's difficult to remember this is just a "show" even though we love it😅

[@samuelnaradowski2608]

“His daughter gave it to us” Internally “his what?!?”

[@Jopsyduck]

Prisoner Zero is a reference from the first couple of Matt Smith's Doctor Who episodes.

[@toshomni9478]

I think Kim was thinking about The Prisoner and Number Six from that show, as was I for some reason even though It's well before my time.

[@harrisoncunliffe7615]

Went from having loads of gold and a secret starbane and statue to having a starbane statue and loads of secret gold

[@asherandai1000]

Do they have loads of gold? I thought they were pretty broke (by d&d adventurer standards) at this point?

[@harrisoncunliffe7615]

Kyle Nott well they just got their reward from the sisters which was a sizeable amount and I suppose they have more assets in Aerois that’s gold

[@asherandai1000]

@@harrisoncunliffe7615 Was it? I honestly don't remember how much it was, but I didn't think it was that much... Maybe I'm wrong. Assets in Aerois might as well not exist right now. In effect they don't exist until they return to Aerois and re-collect them.

[@Derploop]

8 successes required, DC seeming to range from 20 to 26, maximum possible bonus of +10 (barring Lucius' sorcery points which they didn't know about) and the party could only fail 8 times. I don't think the party was ever really capable of passing this challenge, which seems maybe a little shitty. The party did fuck up almost everything imagineable prior to this though, so maybe it was a case of catastrophic consequences, where they were never meant to let things get that bad.

[@pinkpixels8806]

Love the Hadar voice. Very Hermaeus Mora from Elder Scrolls.

[@pinkpixels8806]

Also, does Tom ever listen? I swear to god the amount of times that boy asks a question that’s already been answered five minutes ago 😂

[@RealRizzardofozz]

OMG Mark you prove time and time again that you are one of the best DMs out there! If you ever decide to put this campaign in a book or something I will 10000000% buy it.

[@Alpha121198]

I thought we'd get a nice fun romp with a bit of main story advancement, and now we seem to be in season 4!

[@Spac3_Duck]

On the catch up train. I just love marks interpretation of what is fantasy dnd and then sci-fing it up. The Styx Hyper Space Lanes. Simple mash up title, but the imagination is so evocative. Truly inspiring.

[@amyheath8261]

Mark is so talented at improv, it’s easy to forget that shunting to Elysium was not part of his plan. It feels so detailed and natural

[@gyrrakavian]

It's funny, Mark. My arcana cleric ran into that this past Saturday. He's a silver-skinned Aasimar with crystal blue eyes. He's used to being the weirdest one in the room, but we've got a 4-race hybrid character (yes, it's homebrew) in the party he just joined. The only other time he didn't experience that was in Sigil.

[@GothicKitty1313]

Oh man the music with the scene and description at 33:00 was so epic, it fit so well!!

[@GothicKitty1313]

Also the fact it's currently thundering here, damn O.O

[@panvatar3979]

I have never been more stressed than while watching this chaos go down

[@lukeamparo6586]

This was just a side quest! Wtf?! Wish rpgs had this lvl of outrageous lunacy for typical side quests. Better than fetch quests

[@samkozz]

Nova is 100% Starbane spy! Every possible chance she talks about Starbane, when they were at the thing she was the first to say "Let's ally with Starbane!"

[@lucasnicholson9443]

It would be cool if they had the ILS with them in this episode

[@ChronoBolt]

This episode's title terrifies me.

[@dregoth0]

You mean the "and Time" part? They're gonna get back home to Aerois but hundreds of years have passed and it's Trotts' Bladerunner campaign!

[@ThatGuyNikolas]

@@dregoth0 I swear to god, if someone next episode says "This little manouver's going to cost us 52 years" I'm going to be upset.

[@High_Rollers]

I need a list of the the background music, it gave me chills.

[@Dark_Jargon]

So.... DnD has been part of my life through out my entire existence, my parents have played 2e my entire life. Planescape has also been a giant part of my life and I currently play in a planescape based campaign with my parents. I am so hyped for this. This is so exciting. Mark is just so amazing!!!

[@john-marccartagenas6706]

FINALLY CAUGHT UP, I KJOW THERE IS ONE OF TJESE EVERY EPISODE BUT SHIT MAN IT FEELS NICE. Love Mark's reaction to the dono at 2:52:26

[@juliemichellerobinson1841]

Ooh dunamancy tie-in. Essek would be proud 🥳

[@hannahbobanana]

The visual for aila using her rage to assist people is very metal

[@katies.735]

It’s a good thing Nova is already a warlock bc she somehow keeps getting warlock patron propositions

[@linked_soul]

A Nice Episode for a Nice Episodenumber!

[@lux_1742]

In curiosity anybody wonder what roll Gideon Prime was?

[@Markcrazeer]

for the record the kayleys rest archway is currently located on kalases ruined sky city outpost if i remember correctly.

[@RabidBlackwatch]

Is Helios with them? I feel like he'd have some thoughts on all of this.

[@hathaway384_4]

He stayed on the ship

[@Heavytrucker34]

If Hadrial knows people that would love to use that code to get on star-banes ship and hes SO certain that they have a means of using the code then why doesn't the party just ask hadrial through the message spell to tell them who these people are or where they can find them to use their gate???

[@toshomni9478]

They've been through a lot and probably aren't thinking too clearly.

[@matthewfilor2666]

They finally found a place to sell their Starbane statue!!!!

[@JL-by6tn]

They keep confusing Bless with Guidance. After this long, you'd think they'd know the difference. Also, birdie keeps forgetting that the archway they saw has been moved to a sky city.

[@steampunkdemons]

LETS DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!!!!!!

[@johnplesia5154]

The level of magic & technology combined reminds me a lot of Voltron and Alteans.

[@zakvis7282]

Ok, have not finished watching but I'm feeling some heavy dread. I love the cast and I love our DM but I just hope our party has a chance... I mean at the moment it feels a bit hopeless in game. Last series it was a country struggling, but now: it's a universe. I truly hope our Heroes can face this challenge... but at the moment, I can just hope😓🙂

[@justinnorth3814]

Trot’s D&D Beyond ads are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of these episodes! 🤣

[@swampgoat6343]

I am stealing this transportation to another realm after closing a rift thing it'll finally allow my players to experience my multiverse

[@AngryShellback]

A rebellion is never ready, a rebellion is always a chance of hope...

[@Addy0302]

I don't think this should still be part of chapter 9, or at least rename the chapter. This is definitely not "a little respite"

[@bill-1835]

Spoiler-free possibly useful timestamps: Stream starts - 0:03 Intro video - 8:13 Recap - 9:14 Gameplay starts - 10:44 Break starts - 1:21:07 Break ends - 1:30:13 Gameplay Ends - 2:45:53 XP: 2:55:18 (final number at 2:58:02) Fanart video - 2:59:50

[@originaljacmg]

I imagine the armour worn by the gaurds/militia thing guys to look akin the advent troopers armour from xcom 2

[@naughtydred8538]

Wondering how many episodes it takes for Trott to move his web cam or monitor so we can see him other than profile

[@asherandai1000]

Da fork... I'm only up to the break at this point but... :O *spoilers* Edit: Well that episode sent the whole campaign sideways. Seems like everytime they fail the difficulty jumps up, first releasing Starbane onto Aerois, now getting themselves trapped outside of Aerois where everyone is under the heel of Starbane. I do think that challenge to close the rift was too difficult personally. 8 successes needed, but only 4 failures? And needing something more than 20 to succeed with such limited bonuses? I'd do the math if I had actual figures for what they needed, but that's definitely much less then a 50% chance of success. Odds weren't good from the get go... guess they shouldn't have rested.

[@edmundmk6416]

*spoilers* I feel like Mark makes his encounters very difficult. I guess it can make for a more exiting show, but the players never ever seem to catch a break! I agree the rift closing was doomed to fail. With 8 successes needed vs 4 failures you need to succeed twice as often as you fail. Not sure of the exact DC, but assuming a DC of at least 20, and a +9 on the check (5th level spell/18 ability score), then the players are only going to succeed at most 50% of the time, when they actually need to be succeeding more than 66% of the time. Things like Portent and Bless, or creative ideas like the twin spell, were ways to shift the odds, but the bar definitely started out high. See also the escape from Aegis V and the ILS explosion, which were similarly disastrous for the party.

[@asherandai1000]

@@edmundmk6416 I agree wholeheartedly, some of it's down to poor decisions on the part of the players (such as the abbey incident), but some of it just seems doomed to fail before they even start with very low chances of success. I would clarify it's not a complaint though, just an observation. at least not from me.

[@TwilightDrag0n]

Asherandai I think that’s one of the things that feels too off for me with DM Mark. There have been plenty of times were both the dice and player choices made things worse, but it seems like just as many times Mark is setting up a TPK from his encounters. I feel like he needs to step back at times and say “this maybe not fun for anyone.” Aegis V was a great example for me for this. If they didn’t say “open the door” that turn then the story would have ended. That encounter felt like it was meant to be a “story end”

[@timburbagereads]

I think the DC was high for the portal, but it felt like it was going to be really hard. They also took a rest, so things went worse. The gnolls arent just going to sit around and wait for the heroes to finish the ritual. For the staircase I thought it was perfectly balanced. The group had tools, and it was tense and close. If the group survives and everyone is on 1 HP, its the best combat ever. 1 HP differencr and it is the worst. It's a fine line

[@Tryingcounts]

To the point about sentry... When did guardians fight hadar? Am I forgetting something?

[@anibalalvarez1381]

Root prime and his frens

[@hunterkuzik2130]

just go to the moon of Endor with the rebels and disable the shield to the death star so Nova can fight the emperor with her blue lightsaber. Wait a minute... wrong universe.

[@kylewilliams2943]

Was it just me that immediately thought... "How lucky, a chance to sell that Starbane statue!"

[@drmm3r367]

why does this rift give me serious hermaues mora vibes

[@haroldharolds7818]

Okay woah, first epidose in a while, Mark is looking good!

[@Wolfe_Gaming85]

Prisoner zero is doctor who, its one with a crack in time

[@chuckallerston9997]

Nova split into 3 thats a problem solving group.or a bunch of doubt,!

[@Human-gu2cx]

Marks names for things really go unappreciated, the rest of the highrollers crew doesn’t appreciate him enough. But I guess he makes up for it with being evil.

[@violetopal6264]

This is where they should have befriended and brought along the dragon spy. Might not have been able to help any but the dragons would've been more likely to be trusting afterwards

[@kmcg959]

I'm watching this well into the future but want to chip in my thoughts anyway... I feel so bad for Lucius, because everyone else is super special; we have a magic alien storm elf, a chosen of Hesper with magic vision, the Sentinel Prime, and someone with a magic weapon and connection to the BBEG. Lucius (well, Trott) does all these really clever, creative moves but (thanks to unlucky dice rolls) never seems to get any where, and he's the only one who isn't really 'special'. He has the arcane chromat thing, but that's just a mechanic rather than a storytelling device. His story was to lose everything, while everyone else gains a magical destiny. I don't know how it goes on later in the campaign, but it just feels a bit...unfair.

[@shushafox]

His chromatic magic does make him special, he is also the only one who could touch the Guardian Matrix and connect with it. Moreover, he got a giant heritage, a weak but still political presence, and an airship which made him the leader of the group. Although the airship as kinda irrelevant now :D I'd say, the only Super Special is Sentry, as she has become basically a Guardian goddess. Everyone else is on par.

[@TheWearyAlkamyst]

Oooo, I wonder if sentry could bestow a guardian spirit upon a clockwork soldier or golem? Interesting

[@reedk2402]

Probably not. I would think the matrix is the part that makes Imbuing a guardian possible. There is no reason a clockwork soldier would have a matrix.

[@nimbuscloud62]

Lucius's final fantasy victory song i appreciated that lol

[@johnbell4328]

I wonder how long it will be till their ship's impounded or the crew desert.

[@lauren-u6q]

Aaaaah some serious star wars vibes I’m loving it

[@lyle_the_lemon_boy]

BRO BRO BRO WHAT THE HECK This episode ooo I got shivers

[@caseyturner6906]

The Tassadar is the name of the ship that Starbane is on and the Name of one of the Triumphant like Tiangun?

[@alexispotter1151]

correct! it is one of the eternal triumvirate, which is what i think you meant, and also Kalas's flagship

[@adrenalineunlimited]

Katie and Kim say no a lot, even when it seems like their character would say yes. I love how invested you guys are and you don't have long shit takes like other shows sometimes do, I just hope you aren't as stressed by it as you seem

[@spaceslime21]

What if callus made a deal with big red and then pulled a Nicholas Cage Ghost Rider and is using his gift against Clifford the big red star.

[@annabelle629]

1:26:50 doctor who prisoner zero hello?

[@1st1nfantry]

How I fall asleep on twitch and wake up to this

[@latentpotential4520]

I think you'll find, pal, that is legal tender.

[@bradleekoers9895]

If i set my alarm to watch live at 5pm sunday bst as advertised will it be episode 70 or 71?? I dont wanna miss an episode by going to twitch from youtube

[@benholden2878]

For god sake mark really? Party has to as a side quest kill 30 monsters in rapid succession several of which are crazy powerful hadar worshippers and then you still kill a nun anyway and then make them try and hit something over ac20 at level 9 - you never give the party any chance of success, they never had a chance in the abbey either and now they are being teleported away again? Let them have some wins for god sake

[@sagemidget7331]

In marks defence / the party make some Absolutley abismal decisions that always end up in them getting bodied 😩 But yeh, I’d like some of the normal town stuff for longer than we got aha

[@Mandaloreish]

Amazingly good acting Mark, I could feel your character through voice tone and inflection. Secondly though, in the future can you have Trot up the volume of the video somehow when you upload it? Even at 100% volume with my speakers it's extremely quiet

[@jimmydavis1775]

Maybe it's just you? I'm using the same headphones at the same volume as I always do, and it seems if anything a bit louder

[@Mandaloreish]

It’s entirely possible that it’s just the laptop, though I’ve run through it’s settings and everything is at 100%.

[@asherandai1000]

Sounds like that's a problem at your end mate. I have my volume at 20% and it's loud enough to hear from another room.

[@scuba535]

Do your speakers have a separate volume control that somehow accidentally got turned down.

[@Mandaloreish]

They do and they’re all the way up as well

[@jaco-bean1286]

The Greek after life is now a world I. Aerois

[@ThatGuyNikolas]

Don't mind me, just here for tge mandetory comment.. *clears Throat*....... "N I C E"

[@jimibrown9266]

That starfox shirt. I see you Tom

[@leogomez271]

Mark what is with you and making side quests impossible?

[@rudolphreichtophen]

THE TECHNICIAN REMINDS ME OF A GEK!

[@Zoratoune]

I just think the banish spell is very nice for this kind of situation.

[@thatlycantomboy]

WHY WAS THIS THE EPISODE I DECIDED TO FALL BEHIND ON

[@jonathanhall3640]

3:02:57 amazing

[@randomneck-romancer3144]

1:39:48 looks like the wing hussars arrived

[@danalou_who7765]

I thought Lucius attuned that new item increasing his AC to 13. And isn't it just a bonus action for him to use his shield ring?

[@jayphillips4167]

They faffed aroud for too long so no one equipped and attuned to it. For some reason Trott didn't want it

[@gyrrakavian]

It'd be hilarious if the gang ended up on Sigil.

[@ganymeade275]

Wait Magic San Francisco? So somewhere out there is a magical version of The Castro!?

[@yimyam7615]

A crack in the room? Doctor who?