The Ashen Road | Altheya: The Dragon Empire #6

⭐ Tickets available for our LIVE SHOW in London on September 17th! 🔗 www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/h...
The party mop up the last of the Gnolls, Ophelia goes on a hunt and we arrive in Ashen Rest!
0:00:00 - ANNOUNCEMENTS!
0:05:00 - Part 1
1:31:39 - Break & Fan Art
1:37:39 - Part 2
2:46:59 - Outro & Donations
Browse C3 - Altheya: The Dragon Empire here: tinyurl.com/AltheyaLists
Browse C2 - Aerois here: tinyurl.com/AeroisLists
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High Rollers is a 5e DnD campaign that streams every Sunday at 5pm UK on / highrollersdnd
DM: Mark "Sherlock" Hulmes - / sherlock_hulmes
Daisy: Katie Morrison - / littlenommer
Rowan: Chris Trott - / trottimus
Gruffudd: Kim Richards - / nanosounds
Ophelia: Rhiannon Frost - / rhifrost_
Xantheus: Tom Hazell - / amadeusfink
KZbin Members: / @highrollersdnd
Podcast: tinyurl.com/highrollerspod
Patreon: / highrollers
Twitch: / highrollersdnd
Twitter: / highrollersdnd
Tiktok: / dndhighrollers
Instagram: / highrollersdnd
Wiki: high-rollers-dnd.fandom.com/w...

[@banhbae]

this is the first campaign i’m fully following like, EVER (came in after the bg3 oneshot!) and can i just say: i absolutely *adore* mark’s worldbuilding. the images he paints with his descriptions are so vivid, which is amazing since visualizing things is hard for me even though i’m a writer! i could almost see myself walking through the streets of Ashen Rest, staring up at the Duke’s Palace and climbing the steps to visit shops. never have i been able to imagine a story so clearly, i could almost see the gleam of sunlight glinting off the knight’s and war drake’s armor. cheers to you all!! i’m excited to see where this campaign leads you can tell the others enjoy it as well!! they were just as mesmerized as i was

[@AlexSmith-kh3mz]

The world of Aerois was fully homebrew and there's so much amazing lore and unique worldbuilding. Definitely watch it if you're enjoying Altheya!

[@stuartboswell6961]

Totally agree. Aerois was next level world building.

[@hugobisio9537]

❤❤❤

[@supremekingjosh]

One of my fave things atm is seeing comments from new HR fans in awe of Mark's spectacular world building 😁 it'll only get better from here so make sure you stick around!

[@MFZBitch]

@@AlexSmith-kh3mz I was so in love with Aerois and i already feel myself falling in love with Altheya. Mark is hands down the best DM i had the pleasure of watchin and i did consume all of Dice, Camera, Action!, Critical Role and Fantasy High.

[@Techstriker1]

I love the running joke of Ophelia biting bad things. 😆

[@V8Dau]

Imagining Percival holding back Ophelia’s hair as she purges the gnoll blood hahaha

[@nicolasloyola3382]

Am I the only one that feels that Rowan is an office/park and rec character? The way trot looks at the camera while he RPs is the same feeling I get when Jim or Ron looks at the camera.

[@bubblehubble13]

Gods I love this campaign so, so, so, so so SO much. Everybody's characters are so fun and unique and when thrown together they have such wonderful dynamics. I love Gruff's dad-ness and his calmer, wiser, and dignified character that knows his values and sticks by them... Ophelia's darker story in general being contrasted by the comedic interactions of Percival and her kind personality... Daisy's chaotic childishness and the mystery of who Nim is and what he is to her (a friend? guardian? parasite?).... Rowan's charming self and golden heart that just brings me a smile every time he speaks.... and the LOREEEEEEE when it comes to Xan, poor boy got messed up too badly and I LOVE WATCHING THE SHIT THAT GETS THROWN AT HIM THANKS TO THAT. It's so. much. FUN. Ughhhh I just adore everything. I love Gruff. I love Ophelia. I love Daisy. I love Rowan. I love Xan. And lets give some love to Mark too, because his world building and descriptions??? Godly, so immersive, so enjoyable to watch. Please, please, please never stop with this, it's one of my favorite things in the world right now. You are all amazing and so talented, just- wow, wow, wow !!!

[@bettysghetti7419]

Am I missing something or is Rowan the only one still left in the dark about everyone? He seems just happy to be there, happy to have made some friends

[@danbuckingham5077]

I remember hearing/reading somewhere that Trott has no "plan" with Rowan, no particular goal he wants to achieve. This was intentional so he could be adaptive and lean more heavily into RP

[@Techstriker1]

It also makes it hilarious with how seemingly everyone else has a secret or dark thing going on, and he's just there being cheery.

[@Troommate]

And we love him for it 🤣

[@mattbriddell9246]

I'm both very excited and very nervous for the impact that Ophilia's vampirism is going to have both on the party and the campaign itself. On the one hand it feels like watching a ticking time bomb that could drive a massive wedge between the group and have drastic consequences for all of them, but on the other hand most of the players seem to really be enjoying the tension it's creating and Rhi is clearly having the time of her life playing this character :)

[@playlistb3795]

Knowing this group, it will probably go off at the worst possible moment in the campaign with absolutely disasterous consequences, and they will all see it as a top 5 moment of the campaign.

[@AlexSmith-kh3mz]

Ophelia's family "farm" is obviously a human farm, promised neverland style 😅

[@j-mc2144]

4:55 intro 6:10 Crucible rolls 8:07 Cackling !10:23 (Gnollger) 14:01 Nim is scared and angry 20:32 Mark makes a Gnoll sound 31:42 Mark blocks the camera 33:07 Vaultspawn prevalence Explained 35:25 Vaults themselves explained 38:13 Rowan and Kaid talk 41:11 Gruff wants another reference 43:35 Gnolls are disgusting (Ophelia con check) 45:44 Rowan listens to Altheya and plays a beautiful song to settle the camp down [Awesome RP segment created from Rowan's game] !49:38 Rowan wants to play the TRUST game (!49:55 AMONGUS lol) 51:03 Rowan's lute is quality 51:47 first round of the trust game Rowan -> Ophelia (About Percival) 52:55 Percival likes the party 53:19 2nd round Ophelia -> Gruff (About Gruff's dream here) 54:57 Ophelia gets bonus points! 55:20 3rd round Gruff wants to ask Xan 56:20 Zarontekis is WATCHING >:) 57:15 Zone of Truth is illegal, this land got LAWS 59:04 Xan makes a deception check 1:00:02 3rd round Gruff -> Rowan (Lute "Sostenuto"[?]) 1:02:09 4th round Rowan -> Daisy (Powers?) 1:03:11 :o Daisy makes a deception check, Nim wants to stay hidden 1:04:37 Bliss joins in the game 1:05:15 Daisy's powers theories 1:06:14 Daisy does a telepathic talk -> Xan and Gruff 1:10:36 5th round Daisy -> Bliss (Favorite food?) 1:11:35 Rowan is INSIGHTFUL 1:12:25 6th round Bliss -> Xan (Dragonborn house?) 1:13:40 Sub question with a weird pause from Xan? (Banker parents) 1:15:05 Rowan wants to play trust for months 1:15:42 Telepathic trio say goodbye 1:17:16 Rowan sneaks off to drop off his gift 1:19:00 How's Ophelia's hunger goin? 1:20:50 Rowan is GINORMOUS compared to Daisy ft Mark and Trott height solidarity 1:22:56 everyone's character height 1:23:56 How's Ophelia sleeping 1:24:38 She's not (ft. Visions of her Mistress and hard decisions about blood) 1:28:23 Ophelia looks for wildlife 1:31:44 Break (11 grand raised! 10 grand SMASHED) 1:32:42 Fanart video (same as last) 1:36:57 Return 1:37:48 Part 1 end Recap 1:38:34 Ophelia goes another sleepless perturbed night 1:40:32 Tent check 1:43:51 Ophelia tents with Gruff ! 1:46:37 Ophelia confides in Gruff's Knightly virtue about her hunger (ft Rhi does some great crazy RP) ! 1:50:44 Kim explains her scroll of Knightly virtues. Really cool background ! 1:51:19 *sighhhh* bloody hell 1:52:05 Ophelia plays the Knightly virtues against Gruff lol 1:54:10 that WAS GREAT 1:54:54 They hunt animals 1:55:56 We learn Osseus definitely farms humanoid blood 1:57:23 Gruff makes a warning to Ophelia 2:01:01Ashenrest described 2:03:58 Con save end of road trip 2:05:24 7 days downtime in a city helps a lot 2:06:46 Kaid explains the city, more city descriptions 2:08:41 Ashenrest is pretty safe 2:09:30 Kelskaris is massive compared to Ashenrest !2:10:00 Tom can't think of American towns lol 2:10:28 Dukel Palace and the Ruby River (Dominus Ignarum) 2:11:29 Big fkn dragon building lmao ft THE DOME CAN OPEN 2:12:38 Land and Royalty hierarchies 2:13:08 The soldiers are going to chill 2:14:23 Nobody knows the Reave did anything wrong 2:14:44 Where will they stay (Hotel options) 2:16:36 Goodbyes with the Sarge 2:18:26 Bliss gives Rowan an address in Ferros for the vanilla cake recipe 2:19:04 The Precious Chalice Bakery 2:20:11 Everyone's experiences with big cities 2:21:07 Ashen's rest is classy 2:22:33 Zarontekis gives his recommendation 2:24:03 Kim gives the name of the order: Circle of the Loyal Hounds ft he doesn't need any recommendations 2:26:27 Zarontekis gives Gruff some harsh reality 2:27:20 Ophelia wants a BATH 2:28:31 Everyone needs a glowup ft Cauldrons care about your appearance ! 2:30:07 this hair doesn't just happen on its own 💅 2:31:43 Gruff sees his first knight ooo (he's fkn sick) 2:34:11 Gruff is awestruck 2:35:08 Knight talks to the party 2:37:42 Large town description 2:40:24 Town exploration plans 2:42:51 Tom sees a noticeable tower 2:43:27 Random Wis saving throw??? monkaS 2:47:00 Outro/donos 2:47:14 Duke Considerate explained 2:47:51 Ophelia is a spoiled princess 2:48:45 Mark's random tables and other great resources 2:50:22 Goals once again SMASHED 2:51:40 Tom is someone's fav 2:52:26 Nim is evil theory 2:52:43 "Are we dancer?" 2:54:16 Crucible is from Star Wars 2:55:00 Soo many CALM donations

[@amyheath8261]

Rowan is the absolute sweetest, I adore him. He is so full of love and kindness. And such a soothing low voice.

[@johnwendel702]

This is my favorite group of characters, and that is really saying something because I have seen all of their uploads. Rowan is a loveable giant, Gruff is the Uncle Iroh, Ophelia is a feral goblin of a dhampir, and then we have hobbitcore happy go lucky adventurer, and angsty secretive Tom's character

[@blackh9604]

Always love the HR gang's character dynamics. So fun to watch!

[@TheStickbug_]

I havnt seen the other campaigns, but I am absolutely digging this one. Love y'all!

[@mixmastermike2128]

go catch up the first one is super good

[@waltbriggs1821]

Ooh, when you have the time, you should go back, I got to busy to keep up with Aerois, but Lightfall was what got me into dnd in the first place

[@DomCombatVids]

Aerois is unbeatable

[@hades_head_empty]

1:18:30 imo in terms of minerals: ophelia would be a banded red jasper, gruff would be a (green and grey mottled) kiwi stone, daisy is rutilated (clear and has little gold looking veins) quartz, xantheus is maybe a tiger's eye with a lot of amber tones (or pyrite aka fool's gold bc it's thematic)

[@pigglebee]

Took me 6 episodes to realise they were vaultspawn, not voltspawn lmao. Mark even talked about proto-magi vaults and it didn't click

[@JaffaArchfiend]

When the gold dragon tidbit came up, I was right there with Ophelia and peering around waiting for exposition xD

[@nisfornightowl_]

yo what?? I'm caught up on HR for the first time in forever. Absolutely loving Altheya can't wait to see where the story goes

[@lynettejwhite]

With the hunt of Gruff and Ophelia, you really missed a beat. Eating old boar, ergh, so heavy with gamey boar taint! But the piglets would have been sweet. And the first step of butchery is to drain the blood, so Ophelia could take their serve and Gruff could have carried one of them back to camp to roast on the fire by the night watch. That would have been a grand breakfast!

[@Lunch_Meat]

I can't help but think of the movie "the mask" when watching the scene with gruff and ophelia. That scene where Jim Carrey pretends he's been shot and turns into a pathetic cowboy and keeps coughing while playing out dying. She deserves an award.

[@abdulazeezaminu40]

I just spotted that Rhiannon has the Astarion MTG card in front of her.

[@yennefer440]

Maybe it was a little nod to Neil winning best va. Though, i can't help but think about when they killed Astarion during early access 😂

[@Random_Kelsey]

Public baths? We all know what kind of roll we're going to get next time 😉

[@timmcd2179]

DM is really good.

[@danih.5675]

"Is this a witness" meme on the fan art got an audible laugh from me. Good job nicimonsta

[@felidaemeow4545]

Love Mark‘s roleplaying and voice acting 👌🏻

[@bryantmonroe7044]

I just found the "behind the scenes" section for your campaign. Wow fantastic, and I hope to hear bits of the intro music maybe throughout the campaign not just the intro. That was great watching the orchestra play that. Thanks for the awesome content.

[@magley64]

"weird, humans don't get that... Lol"

[@42across]

kalashtar mayhaps?

[@LordCafeine]

Hearing Ironsworn, Starforged and Worlds Without Number mentionned is awesome. ❤ I highly recommend all of those games to anyone wanting to explore outside D&D 5e. Ironsworn and Starforged are also made to be playable as solo TTRPG if anyone doesn't have the chance of the time to play with friends. The game and random tables are GMing for you and you just have to sit back, put some ambiant music and enjoy (personnaly writing what I do like a journal / session summary helps me a lot when playing solo TTRPG). Also exploring outside your comfort game is the best way to be a better DM in my opinion and Mark is the living proof of that.

[@butnooneshome]

In their previous campaign, Mark actually used progress mechanics from Ironsworn in some of their encounters. I like the way they are not slaves to RAW; although I was sort of hoping they would base this campaign on PF2 .

[@Astral.404]

DnD TIMEEE perfect to watch while I do schoolwork love y’all been here for 3 years now❤️

[@Phalcon777]

Gnoll blood is basically like a southerner drinking unsweet tea so I feel bad for Ophelia

[@zpal363]

Love the roleplay in this ep! Thank you guys :D so much fun to watch

[@Trigun99]

Watched Live! Just coming to comment, awesome game everyone!

[@Arrusoh]

I only caught up on Aerois as the final stream went live. It's been nice not having to catch up on this. I am loving this campaign so much. It's much more my thing that Aerois was, to be clear I still loved Aerois. But I am far more of a Fantasy fan than a Scifi fan. and I am loving all the characters so much. I like how they all play very different characters each campaign

[@Russianninja956]

I am adoring this world building! Such a great adventure and I can hardly wait to see where we end up.

[@archabe]

such great fun. thanks.

[@ryanparker4006]

Really enjoying the campaign! Thanks for all the group's work to entertain us each week. Keep up the good work.

[@thyroiddubby6226]

In between episodes, I am watching the Lightfall campaign (which got me into DMing) and seeing Trott not randomly touch people to heal like he did with Cam is throwing me off 😂😂

[@davidbusch383]

This world makes me think of the song "Where Dragons Rule" by Dragonforce

[@tenebraebr]

Oh big town! I want to see what happens next episode!

[@spectra20000]

I recently bought the book of random tables Mark shows at the end of the video, it is the most fun I have had with third party supplemental books as a DM!

[@Thebull1526]

Such a good watch

[@isaacb4229]

The concept of the vaults reminds me a bit of the Kaerns in Earthdawn. I wonder if that might be part of the inspiration. They have a pretty strong Fallout vibe too.

[@jayfng123]

I am so lost w/o these...baldurs gate 3 can only suffice so much.

[@supremekingjosh]

Is Daisy a soul knife rogue??? 👀 I'm currently playing a soul knife grung so very excited to see how Katie uses some of the later abilities 😁

[@chanyael]

I wasn't familiar with the soulkife, just read anout it and that makes sense, with those knives of light, and the telepatic bond she established. You must be right.

[@wildmike5707]

The vaults remind me of the dungeons in the sinbad anime

[@jordanroutledge777]

Glad I’ve saved this episode to watch till now

[@1Lanavis1]

Love this actual play

[@Sylfaemo]

I just love you guys. This is so good and I'm laughing my ass off over KZbin thinking this is World of Warcraft :D

[@naraferalina2308]

Rhee and Kim's convo was a joy to listen to!

[@lucemferre]

The fate dice seems interesting but I’m not sure if I personally like that the players have to call it out before the roll is rolled that they are using a die when the dm doesn’t have any risk of wasting it.

[@sadcosmonaut1363]

Any mechanic implemented is going to favor the DM, but that’s more because of the nature of the game. Mark’s a good DM, he knows when to use those advantages and when to ignore them. I suspect he’ll ignore them more than otherwise.

[@DEADLYSNAKE]

😂 I Love Ophelias Smile as they talk about her getting hungry for blood

[@tater128]

This is the first time I haven’t had more episodes of high rollers to watch… I’m… beside myself

[@Addy0302]

I love how much more effort it took to convince the cat to take a bath

[@xenoblade2247]

I love the intros you guys do

[@nicimonsta]

AAaaaah lets gooo! ♥

[@Lunch_Meat]

I can't help but think of the movie "the mask" when watching the scene with gruff and ophelia. That scene where Jim Carrey pretends hes been shot and turns into a pathetic cowboy and keeps coughing while playing out dying. She deserves an award.

[@Looby_Lake]

When they arrived in the town I thought they'd run into Stuart Ashen.

[@ana_d_73]

I really love Ophelia and Daisy's characters. I kind of ship them together too, the literal ray of sunshine and the vampire with anxiety.

[@yennefer440]

I kinda wanted Ophelia to bite Daisy since she's human. But Nim might do something to Ophelia.

[@NMXP]

Its saying a lot when I'd rather watch almost any other D&D show before Critical Role now. I've watched High rollers since the beginning of aerois but it was always on a scale of D&D of which id watch first and Crit role used to be at the top now its a tie Between High Rollers and the Unexpectables. Thursday morning is reserved for VLDLs Npc D&D tho being only short half hour episodes they're quick to get through before the longer shows while I'm im at work.

[@AsterixCodix]

I was catching up with the previous stream as this one went live. So, let's see what I missed!

[@sarahhaynes2540]

I am caught up yay ill be watching sunday 😊 kinda sad I missed the funraiser but I am broke right now anyway I guess it would have been hard to pertispate

[@ElenaSesana]

Can I ask Mark to share the name of that random tables book? As someone just slightly obsessed with random tables, I'm very curious... because that book looks insanely thick 😍

[@LonelyMarshtomp]

It’s called the Game Master’s Book of Astonishing Random Tables by Ben Eggloff (not sure if that’s how you spell that last name) It’s mentioned at 2:49:15

[@magley64]

Magical Brassieres? What cup size??

[@Phalcon777]

Oh that's her race

[@douglasanderson7089]

Okay, unsure if this has been said yet. Daisy's subclass. Home brew? I thought perhaps Phantom with Nim being flavored Whispers of the Dead?... now I'm thinking reflavoured Soulknife?

[@A2Ztigers]

It's Soulknife with Radiant instead of Psychic. Summoning knives, the second bonus action knife, that's straight out of the book. Nim and the Radiant damage is because Daisy is an Aasimar.

[@MarkD5678]

I'm all but certain that she's an aasimar soulknife with the psychic blades being swapped out for radiant.

[@Paladine1]

You know you’re early when you check comments and there are no timestamps :D

[@ssdot]

❤

[@j.c.7780]

Hey High Rollers team, could you tell me what the song playing at 1:58:30 is? I really love it and I can't find a up-to-date list of your music

[@Crispi1260]

It's "Breath of Life" by Gavin Luke.

[@steveholmes11]

Is that Hulmes? For a moment I was convinced it was Kenneth Willliams.

[@btcprox]

Quaint coincidence that this episode and the latest CritRole episode see the party members being honest to each other to build trust At least Rowan's game is certainly less dramatic

[@dethmin173]

cool

[@ZackBlackwood97]

Watching these makes streaming a D&D campaign look really fun. Then I remember I don't know how to stream and have no friends

[@datguy6101]

49:32 lol Tom

[@gd1247]

Nice, love the faster uploads but I do really miss being able to see the live chat on the vod. Is there a reason those went sub only?

[@lucasblackstone4896]

The DCs for the travel system seem high for a penalty that is hard to get rid of. There's a pretty good chance of failing a DC 13 Con save for most people and that was on a well-maintained / traveled road. I know it's a system they are still working the kinks out of but that is just my opinion.

[@redr4949]

"Small Complication...."

[@lazypaladin]

I *_freaking adore_* the little lore tidbit that _Detect Thoughts_ and _Zone of Truth_ is regulated within the Law of Altheya! _Best D&D group in the YT space, suck it CritRoll!_

[@levicooper4529]

alright ladies. new year is over. back to posting.

[@SuperCheesehead11]

For the algorithm!

[@magley64]

For the algorithm!

[@katcyer26]

For the algorithm!

[@bubblehubble13]

FOR THE ALGORITHMM !!!!!!

[@DeadDoll42]

Judge Dredd does not give into the praise kink 🤣

[@benwebb9027]

Superb world building. One question, is Altheya the name of the entire world (eg that Ossius, Caldera etc is in) or the country they are currently in?

[@TRivan-kx2bi]

It's the name of the world. Caldera is a province of the empire of Ilmere.

[@snooty8523]

Anyone know whats up with the hiatus?

[@n0z1e]

I'm thinking this but watching the second campaign from day one onlr 12 in 160 odd to go

[@CosmiccNova]

1:22:25 The first thing I thought of when Kim said this was “Omg Gruff has a primordial pouch” I always imagined that he had Krato’s body type but taller

[@ShadowAxon]

New Camera angels :D

[@Micromanic]

High Rollers Star Wars One Shot (using FFG rules) when? 🥺

[@suntiger745]

They did a Star Wars one-shot for JingleJam in... 2018? 2019? It got kinda chaotic though. XD Edit: it was the 2019 Jingle Jam and is on the Yogscast live channel. Called Edge of the Empire. youtu. be/iOu0ejydjGk?si=Rdt3_MTPjrK7FOva

[@IvyKendall-zm2gl]

American viewer here. Think Salt Lake City compared to Seattle.

[@Scott_Burton]

10:30 Would you perhaps say the attack was a gnolled? (annulled)

[@bensparling6071]

That was a close one form mark😅 almost got. Cancelled

[@stevenlannon1020]

😱Who would have guess that Daisy is an Aasimar! I can't wait for the reveal on that one!

[@emilcastagnier391]

Is there an episode this week?

[@herz5159]

I think it's a week off for Christmas

[@bringmemyflail1321]

Kim, that accent was a choice. 🤨

[@jayfng123]

Dear sweet, loving, most kind DM, master Sherlock Hulems. Say you were a deurgar...say. And say also that you were a moon druid. Could you enlarge before you wild shape?? Making you a hugemoungeous polar bear or owl bear or what have you? Also increasing hp and attacks?! Someone please 🙏 i must know.

[@MarkD5678]

Sadly not the same Mark, but yeah, that should work. Wildshape doesn't interfere with a duergar's enlarge, which simply makes you one size larger, a large-sized bear would become a huge-sized bear and a tiny-sized rat would become a small-sized rat. For different enlarging effects like a rune knight or giant-path barbarian, which set you to a specific size, your wildhsape form would not be able limited to whatever that size is, meaning that a polar bear wouldnt become a huge-sized bear until the class feature causing the growth upgrades to huge-size, while a tiny rat would become a large (and later huge) rat.

[@minhnguyenquang1356]

you should add engsub in video. It help it more popular and easy to follow

[@Multimedia_Magic]

Around the 30 minute mark, Mark said "vault" about 972 times, and I'm still not sure if he's saying "vault" or "volt" or "vole" or something else! Seriously, 972 times.

[@itsflowerside]

vault, he clearly talks about a place

[@MysticGochen]

Borderlands 4? ^

[@isabelle8284]

Can I get a Kim shopping guide? The outfits so far are everything to me.

[@HighRollersDnD]

My last three shirts came from a store called Joanie's - theyr'e part of their Natural History Museum collaboration! - Kim

[@daeins]

Now that's one heck of a complication... 🫠 I've been loving this campaign, thanks for all the hard work you guys always put in ❤️