Hello Internet!
I hope everyone had a great week! As for me it was pretty busy. Currently job hunting and putting out some resumes out into the world. Hopefully something turns up. I will say that job hunting is very frustrating and I can’t wait until I can sell my time for mere dollars an hour so that I can pay bills, pay off student loans, and spend the rest of my free time sleeping. Awh adulthood. So great. Anyway, enough of that! I’ve pretty much decided that my full time job is Blogging and writing here on WordPress. Does it pay? No. Does it have healthcare? Also no. But at least I get to talk to all of you and that makes it worth it. Yeah back to finding a job. However, before I get back to that, maybe I should talk to you guys and gals about what happened this week on the website. We had another fantastic week exploding with all sorts of content. Last week I published a Weekly Blog about Studio Ghibli Films where I gushed over Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle for the entire Blog, so check that out if you haven’t already and love Studio Ghibli Movies. On Wednesday I published a Poem titled Numb which is a bit of a downer, but it’s real. It’s real emotions put on the page and I think a lot of people can relate to moments where we just feel numb and tuned out to the world. On Friday I published the next chapter of my Dungeons and Dragons inspired series titled The Things We Run From which gives you a little more insight into Sigthyme’s backstory and sets up an exciting battle. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a few weeks before you see the battle, but that gives you plenty of time to check out that and the rest of the Dungeons and Dragons inspired pieces under the “Writing Prompt” tab if that’s something that interests you. Finally we had a fourth piece get published yesterday titled Garden Base M2-4, which is based off a short story I wrote while in college. It’s about a boy living in a futuristic world raised by Artificial Intelligence. Part 2 will be coming out next week so make sure you read part 1 now. That was a lot, but like I said, this week was bursting with all kinds of content and I want to make sure that readers new and old don’t miss out on all that stuff. Now let’s move on to the topic of this week’s Weekly Blog.
I kind of feel like I should apologize for doubling up on the Dungeons and Dragons with week, but at the same time, I don’t want to apologize for my interests. So I’m not going to. I just hope that you also love Dungeons and Dragons as much as me. That being said, usually when I talk about Dungeons and Dragons, I’m talking about nerdy voice actors from California (Critical Role’s New Campaign), but this time I’m going to talk about some Dungeons and Dragons players across the pond. That’s right I want to talk about High Rollers D&D (hence the title of the Weekly Blog) and their wonderful campaign that just got started a few weeks ago. Now this Weekly Blog will give a general view of all the characters and plot, but will still have spoilers for episode 1-3 of the High Roller’s D&D Aerois campaign. You have been warned! If you’re not caught up and you don’t want anything spoiled, turn back now. And then after you’re caught up, come back and read this! Please!
Personally, I was really excited for this new Dungeons and Dragons campaign. I tried to get into the first campaign which was titled The Lightfall Campaign, but I have not finished it. I don’t remember exactly how far I got into it, but I think it was around episode 30, which is pretty far, but I just lost interest. Nothing on the cast or crew of the show, I just started to listen to it while Critical Role was on haitus, and lost interest as soon as it came back. But, I still loved the players and Mark Hulmes who is the Dungeon Master and was excited to see what came next. Well July 1st the next High Rollers campaign was launched in a completely home brewed setting created by DM Mark Hulmes that mixed classic fantasy and science fiction themes into one, hybrid world. I thought that this was a really awesome idea. Now we don’t know a ton about the world, but from what we’ve been given it seems like the classic planes of D&D like the Underdark, Nine Hells, and Feywild are now converted to distant planets and moons that exist in the same galaxy. Species like Dragonborn, Tieflings, and Genasi are alien species on the planet that live alongside the native races like Humans, Elves, and Orcs. That and the emphasis on the floating sky cities versus the wild countryside below make for a really fascinating setting for a Dungeons and Dragons game.
I also want to talk about the characters because the party that is forming is full of interesting characters with distinct personalities. First there is a Wild Elf, Storm Barbarian named Aila who wields a war hammer and strange storm powers that she doesn’t quite understand. She is most familiar with the wild lands the group is currently stuck in and serves as the anchor for the group. Aila hasn’t quite stepped into the role of the reckless tank yet (due to the more timid playing of the player), but she still loves smashing in skulls when she needs to. Then you have Lucius Elenasto which is the foil to Aila. He is a prim and proper High Elf from the floating city of Gusthaven where his family is rich from producing these “magic cages” that collect magical energy the whole world uses as a power source. Lucius is a total Daddy’s boy and has no experience living in the wilderness, but he wields an unique magical power based on color and specializes in acid and cold spells. Lucius is an Arcane Chromat which is an unique class Mark Hulmes created for this campaign.
The third member of the party is Nova V’Ger who is an Air Genasi, Hexbalde Warlock. She is a naive scholar who spends more time reading books than battling, but she wields a magical sword which gives her magical powers and helps her in combat. She is very book smart and wants to research the interplanetary powers that brought the Genasi to the planet and even has dreams of space travel. Nova is finding out more and more that there’s a lot she can learn from the world when her nose isn’t stuck in a book or a scroll. The next member of the party is Qillek Ad Khollar or “Qill” (pronounced Quill) who is an one-winged Aarakocra with both Cleric and Bard abilities. He is a bird-humanoid who had his one wing destroyed in a terrible thunderstorm. Since then, Qill has been an explorer and messenger between the sky cities before he found himself with the group of adventurers. In battle, he perfers to stand back and use his magical abilities and connection to his god to buff, protect, and heal his allies. He also is very perceptive due to his hawk-like vision. The last member of the group is Sentry who is a Guardian Paladin. Guardians are a home-brewed race created by Mark Hulmes which is similar to automatons or golems. They are constructs made of stone, metal, and wood that are powered by magic. Sentry just recently woke up from a long sleep into a world she does not recognize. She belongs to a more ancient world, but now must figure out what her new path forward in this foreign world. Sentry is powerful in combat with her battle axe and shield as well as her helpful friend, Echo, which is a floating, mechanical orb Sentry can control.
So there are the five characters in the newest High Rollers Campaign as well as the fantasy/science fiction world the campaign is taking place in, but what do I think of it personally? Even though we are only three episodes in (at the time this Weekly Blog publishes), I can already say that I like it and are having a fantastic time watching it. You can tell that the DM has put in a ton of time building out the world and the different home brewed races and classes. So far during these three episodes we have only spent time on an airship and in the lowlands, but I can’t wait to see what the sky cities are like and the different atmospheres of each of them. I’m also looking forward to space travel and the possibilities of other places in the galaxy. I know that’s a far way off for these characters who are only level two, but when we get there, it’s going to be a blast. I will also say that the characters are also very unique with their own creative backstories and life goals. We’ve only seen a small percentage of the background and I know that there is ton more hiding under the surface, but I’m already so invested in each of these characters. I feel like the wild lands and the endless waves of Wild Elves is kind of bogging down these adventurers, but again we’re only three episodes in. As soon as the characters get out of the woods and find a way back into the sky, things will really get interesting. Also I like the mix of races and classes we have. Some people like Sentry and Aila are battle ready and are tanks, while Nova and Lucius are more timid magic users, and Qill buffs and heals from the backlines. They have a pretty good strategy already, but I hope Nova steps up a little bit more with her Hexblade abilities and Aila fully embraces the bloodthirsty barbarian.
Altogether I’m excited for this campaign and interested in where it goes. I want to see more of the world and I want to see these characters to continue to interact in interesting ways. So far the campaign hasn’t gotten too heavy which I think pretty well, but we might get to deeper and darker themes as we go. Throughout the thirty or so episodes of the first High Roller’s campaign, things didn’t get too heavy, so I’m hoping that this campaign has it’s more serious moments to touch on darker subjects. We’ll see. I’ll be happy with a happy, uplifting campaign as well. Nothing wrong with that. Anyway, if you are interested in this campaign, they air live on the High Rollers Twitch channel on Sundays at 5pm GMT/BST or Noon EST and go up on the High Rollers YouTube Channel on Thursdays. It is also available on a variety of podcast services if you’d rather listen to it. It goes up as two parts on Monday and Thursday. You should be able to find it on any of the usual Podcast services. So yeah, that’s my thoughts on the newest High Roller’s D&D campaign. I might end up going back and finishing the first campaign, but for now I’m really enjoying the newest campaign and I hope that you’ll check them out. I’m not sponsored or anything. I just love sharing the things I love with all of you.
Ok that’s enough with talking about Dungeons and Dragons. I’m sure you are tired of all the Dungeons and Dragon talk. Or maybe you’re not. It’s impossible for me to tell, unless you leave me a comment down below. Go ahead and tell me whether or not you are already watching the High Rollers Aerois campaign or any other Dungeons and Dragons shows or podcasts you are enjoying. On the other hand, you can tell me all about how I should talk about something other than Dungeons and Dragons down in the comments if you’d like; just be nice about it. Also if you liked this Weekly Blog, feel free to give it a like. Your views, likes, and comments make my day and make me feel better, so go ahead and show some love. I’d appreciate it. If it’s not too much trouble, spend some time on the website reading all the other stuff I’ve published. There are plenty of stuffs ranging from Weekly Blogs, Poetry, and Writing Prompt pieces about a wide variety of subjects, so I’m sure you can find something to read. Also while you are doing favors for me, go ahead and follow the Blog on WordPress by pushing the “Follow” button as well as on our Facebook Page and Twitter Page. That way you’ll know as soon as I publish something here on the website.
Thank you again for all your support and I hope you have a wonderful week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to Yogscast’s Wikipedia Page about High Rollers D&D
http://yogscast.wikia.com/wiki/High_Rollers_D%26D
Allen The Writer 