High Rollers: Aerois  

Lucias tricking Zarchira into counterspelling a cantrip and immediately fucking blasting her with a blizzard is so fucking hype, he's really been killing it with the cool RP mid combat recently. Good job Trott.

Lucius telling Kalus to shut up is giving me life.

That Lucius vs Xarkira was the spell-clash we allways knew we needed!

Holy fuck Aila found the fucking perfect use for the coin this is so goddamn cool. Genuinely astounded by the roleplay in this episode

1:46:40 Man, Starbane thought he was being anime when he yelled "Plasma blade" but he's got nothing on that play by Lucius.

Arvel's going to have to 1v1 ole Kal for custody.

Well we didnt get spell clash back when they were low level but now we have spell clash with some of the most powerful spell casters in the universe Jesus, lucius would be one of the strongest spell casters with his 9th level slots now. Wow he has come a long way since the airship crash in his PJs looking for teddie

Still think they should have named it daddy’s home

Katie that was so good that I've been staring at my screen for the last 20 min tring to find ways to complement you but no words do justice!!! Maestra!!!!

"I know... that is why I can't let you have this." This is one of those episodes where everyone pulls out all the stops and we got some genuinely powerful story moments! You might want to have a tissue box for the ending. Avoid the spoilers if you can, there a lot to enjoy here! And congrats on getting here after 400+ hours of gameplay!

Who would have thought that Kalus was allergic to bees? Pollenella came in and one tapped him.

Lucius telling kalus to shut up was so satisfying

Spoiler Warning: Aila/Katie's use of the coin was awesome, definitely worth saving it for so long! This has got to be one of my favourite episodes of the campaign so far :) Edit: Spoiler Warning added

How...? How is it that these folks spin out better and better episodes as the campaign continues? This episode easily gets into my top 5, alongside the team meeting Root, entering the fight pit, saving Valla and taking on the Titan of Storms. My favorite parts of this episode: 1. Blowing up the dragon... only for it to reassemble itself. 2. Lucius entering the war room and seeing Valkyrian fighting Xarkira's final Simulaccrum... and then coming to his aid, for Valla's sake. 3. Sentry being a tank against powerful golems. 4. Qill getting paralyzed... again. (And again.) But also him coming in clutch with healing and the Cure Wounds - Lightning Whip combo to get Nova out of danger. 5. Lucius wizard dueling the Simulaccrum and mostly winning, until he gets petrified (again) and Aila swoops in for a critical kill. 6. Seeing Valkyrian mopping the floor with the enemies, getting a +18 to his attack bonus and having an AC of over 26. (And to think he isn't even using Tiangong... he isn't fighting at his full potential. That's scary...) 7. The Stormchasers actually having a civilized argument with Valkyrian over how to defeat Hadaar, and Aila pulling out the coin... with which we see the truth behind Siaska's death, and Valkyrian now has a choice to make: to double down on his plan, or listen to reason... Awesome episode, as always. I eagerly await the next.

Mark constantly mentioning the Eveningstar guys makes me really wanna see an EveningstarxAerois crossover

Lucius: "KAMEHAMEHA!" Xarkira: "PROTEGO!" Lucius: "HAHA! YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!"

Epic! Lucius killing it. The Coin!!! Alla with the words! Excellent episode!!!

Katie just blew our collective minds with that move at the end, wow..

I love Starbane holding off all the robots with one hand while the other was holding Valla

I don't watch the live stream just so i can watch this here with all my RU-vid friends. !!!!VOD-SQUAD FOR LIFE!!!!

'Plasma sweep!' He turned out to be an action figure after all!

I hadn't seen anything regarding this, and I feel rules-lawery-ish mentioning it, but it does say in the PHB at the very bottom of the section for Bonus Actions that anything that deprives you of your ability to take actions also prevents you from taking bonus actions. That being said, Mark does an amazing job with all of this, and is a phenomenal DM

Lucius' prismatic moments are just the best, the best!

I have a feeling Kalus will upgrade his magitech sword to fire faster or more devastantingly very soon

8 months after starting Aerois, and what an episode to catch up on! Waiting between episodes is going to be hard.. Great stuff as always, thank you for giving us this amazing story!

D: I wanna watch so badly! But I’m at work :( someone wanna look after the kitchen for a few hours? sending all the love from Spain guys!

That was so so good. An epic length battle and .... (Spoilers).... . . . That finale. The RP was on point as they try convince Starbane futilely and Ayla throws in the 'wildcard' of the coin. All credit to Mark for adapting the narrative he had in his mind to fit the surprise. I wonder if that's taken his plans for the next sessions in a totally different way!

Aila is the MVP in this episode!!!

Sentry vs starbane totally had the moment of being told to go to your room by a parent when you already started storming off to your room and I can relate so damn hard

Mark has probably already looked this up, but for how stunned works with spells and bonus actions. The main thing that is that you can't concentrate on spells while you're incapacitated, which is in the part about concentrating on spells, and not the Incapacitated condition for reasons. If you want to be super duper specific and rules as written, a bonus action is described as "an additional action on your turn," so I don't think you'd be able to take a bonus action if you can't take actions. That all said, I've ruled differently in the past because it sucks to be stunned and unable to do anything as a player, and as a dm, I (and you) have every right to have conditions affect creatures in ways different to exactly what they say. One of the most important thing to remember is that it's a tabletop roleplaying *game,* and games are meant to be enjoyed. If any rule prevents you from enjoying the game, then you are obligated by just about every introduction of every dungeons and dragons book to adjust the rules to make it an enjoyable experience for you and your players.

Everyone was incredible this episode, but man, Chris Trott with the slow burn of Lucius' character arc continues to impress me. Flash back to the Whimsy of like, 2/3 episodes ago when he was talking with Amador the Dandelion man and being overly dramatic to, well... This episode. Longer explanation: Lucius has ran away from responsibility for most of his life, especially after losing his family. Becoming the Captain of The Stormchaser was another way to run away from the past. But in learning what it really *meant* to be the captain, he really started to become his own person. Even his interactions with Edea show he's come a long way. But now Valla is in danger, from Zarkira, no less. Aside from his sister and the PCs (who he trusts in completely as equals in a fight) Valla is the only family he has (found family, but I don't think it's a stretch to say he thinks of her as little sister as much as Arvill considers her a daughter). Lucius doesn't have time for whimsy. He's not running away from responsibility. He's flying as fast as he can, towards danger. Culminating with his no-sell of Kalus' strategizing straight after the incredible Wish. Kalus Starbane, you are the Ruler of the Valkyrian Empire, you killed Siaska, you destroyed Alfheim, and you want to destroy Aerois, but right now you are UTTERLY IRRELEVANT to Lucius. Because Valla is in danger. You do not *ever* f*#k with Lucius' family. TL;DR - I could listen to Lucius tell Starbane to "Shut up." forever. 1:22:57

Watched it live but I had to watch just for the intro again.

*DADDY COMES HOME*

I guess this was better than the sleep I had planned. Amazing how great the storytelling is each week not to mention how varied the challenges the players face keeps every encounter feeling fresh.

Happy birthday Mark and Trott.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK

I'm so happy for Katie and her coin this episode.

Power word stun as a bonus action holy shit

Katie with that outta pocket coin holy MOLY

On the subject of rules, Gary Gygax himself said that the rules were more like guidelines.

Y'know, since Kalus was such a facts man, I figured conducting a bunch of tests on Hadar's divinity would have built enough empirical data that could have been used to convince him. Like... 1- Can other divines eat away Hadar's divinity? Or is that a unique Hadar trait? 2- Is divinity like a giant pool of energy, so the only reason Hadar is so strong is because he's got a massive pool of it which needs to be drained down, or is it fine tuned for the divines, meaning Hadar had to 'digest' it somehow? 3- Can the divinity be 'purified' (converted to a 'raw' state or tuned to another divine) if so? 4- If it can be purified/ does not need to be, can it be harnessed by granting measured portions of divinity to exceptionally strong mortals? Or is it only compatible with divines? 5- If it cannot, is there any way to contain it safely and scatter it, thereby reducing Hadar's overall power? Eheh.....well I went full theorycraft mode there. Anyway, this was a VERY cool episode, and I absolutely loved Aila's use of the coin, Lucius' power plays, Qillek's massive heals, Sentry sticking to her guns and the angry Nova rampage.

Daddys Home

THIS WAS SO COOL spoilers That Sentry/Kalus interaction was incredible! And badass Lucius yet again, holy shit I bet Mark was so looking forward to actually playing Kalus in combat for the first time.

Wonder if a Lucius backpack will be future merch?

Oh I love your role playing so much! Been watching as part of the Vod Squad since the start of Lightfall and you have indeed been a light in my life for the last 6 years. :) This was a great episode! :)

i lost my breath the moment they said coin, this has been an incredible journey. thank you high rollers

Damn, one of the heavy hitters almost went down. Those who say that the encounters are easy have nothing to say about this one.

This is why I can't help but pity Starbane while simultaneously be infuriated by him. All his talk of find another way and I'll listen but he knows there is another option but refuses to consider it because it means gambling with his daughter and the woman he loves. Yet he is willing to gamble with the world engine which has the potential to have a worse outcome for there nexus if the plan fails.

Definitely need to make a sword bro t shirt!!!

I feel tricked, I was expecting lucius to wish for his family back based on the title, but instead we got something more peculiar

I’ve been waiting for this!

Finally Xarkira has revealed her double cross to Calus! Yes! I love the way you all play and DM and so can't wait to see what happens. And I got a quill plushie, finally! Shipping from UK to US is horrid, but so worth it.

What an insane episode! Loved it ✌🏻

Technically Tom already learned about the alternative to destroying Hadar that Starbane refused...... But he forgot..... Because he's Tom...

hi, i am far far far away from catching up to this episode yet, but still :D

I love Ri's creative problem solving solutions!

Rewatched this episode for the 3rd time just to see the end scene again. What a reveal!!

Great tekking tumble to start

RHI"S HAIR LOOKS SO DAMN GOOD!!

The phrase "my perception is enormous" would make a great shirt XD

Aila got smart, Lucius got smart. Way to go.

2:36:28 Dammit Tom! I spat out my food laughing at your joke.

Aila with the biggest pog

This is exactly what I woke up early for

Trott's decepticon idea was a masterstroke

Absolutely amazing episode, but I have never hated Starbane so much...

Keep up all the awesome work and maybe you'll be able to get a Netflix series.

THE END OF THE EPISODE AHHHH

So sad you didn’t go with daddy’s home

2:03:04 - Aila: "That is all I can do." Me: "Oh, is that all?"

wow i’ve never been this early watching a hr episode even though i’ve been watching for like a year and a half now also I love you all and your campaign is amazing and got me into dnd although i haven’t been able to play a proper game yet since i’m in my gcse year but again I LOVE YOU GUYS AND YOUR CAMPAIGN 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Reads the title: Oh no you didn't! Lucius!

So say Starbane's plan WOULD work. What was Hadar's plan when consuming enough universe that it reaches Aerois? Consume the entire universe, then leave it because the world engine is poison? If that's the case, then Starbane should fordify Aerois and evacuate as many people as possible, build some space stations on a planetary scale within the cradle's influence to hold his enrite empire, and find litterally any other plan than risking the only safe thing from Hadar to be sacrificed, if there is a photon's worth of doubt shadow it might not work!

SO INTENSEE

Quill lightning lured Nova, and then Nova used a reaction. I thought lightning lure prevented reactions?

Happy Bithday to the Trotti boi!

Spoilers Have they just stopped doing injury checks? Both Quill and Nova went down this episode... I know it's easy to get caught up with epic story moments but Tom himself has said that the injury checks are one of his favourite mechanics, and I'm in the same boat.

Katie's *_f***ing brilliant_* play!!!!

I know this will be after the faxing as I'm on VOD squad but happy birthday to Chris trop. My birthday happens to be Valentine's Day :-). Also hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day

Aila brought the hammer down!

THE COIN!

Ahhhhhh what an ending

Sentry is such a better person than me.

I don't really understand why Tom did that one maneuver in the order he did. As long as Nova isn't in her last death save it should have been lightning lure first followed by the Healing Word. Them she would be conscious with 15 HP and at his feet. That would also save the use of Tomb of Levistus for any incidental damage that Kallus' attack might create.

Man I wish they could remember the alternate plan for killing Hadar..... Oh, I thought Nova nearly had it then Edit: yay, he already knew the plan

He blinded them with SCIENCE!

Aka, daddy's home

Its okay Mark I'm excited for Elden Ring too

1:57:27 - Rhi's angry crisp munch 😅

pet peeve of mine, adding some but not all

What is the title of the song playing around 57:00 that they often use for Kalus and other big boss like NPCs?

COOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNN

I keep thinking Mark is trying to end the campaign in a similar way if not the same, as the ending to Lightning Returns. I lol'd at Sentry as soon as the truth was revealed what happened to Ciasca.

My theory was close enough

I tried both times and still can't find the Quill plush in the merchant store It just won't come up for me

Has there been any disclosure of whether or not the High Rollers will be producing an Aerois sourcebook with anyone?

a summation of this video: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I hate to tell you, i guessed he would be walking in pissed with Zarkira. she has been working not against but not alongside him for a while, you guys planted seeds of doubt in him and if anyone was going after HIS daughter it would be him

Spoiler i guess . . . . . The high and mighty commander Xarkira getting bamboozled by a fucking cantrip is...*chefs kiss* I love it, when smug and condescending villaing get their shit kicked in like that. And Lucius has been constantly bending Xarkira over a barell and i live for it. Simulacrum ain't cheap. Then again, she i probably pretty loaded with cash stolen from her victims and shit.

Have I missed when they levelled up, when did this happen.