Last chance to back the campaign crowdfunder based on the hit UK streaming show
Ten candles don’t seem like a lot on a birthday cake. But in the world of tabletop streaming, a decade-long presence that has seen High Rollers build an army of fans and led to performances at major events such as MCM Comic Con and TwitchCon is something to celebrate. Throw in a packed-out gig live on stage in London’s West End – something any actor or performer would give a fairly useable body part to experience – and there’s something magical to what this group of friends playing Dungeons & Dragons creates on stream.
And what better way to celebrate this major milestone than by inviting the fans into the rich world of this live-stream.
“We’ve got some merchandise planned, but the biggest thing is the Altheya: The Dragon Empire campaign guide, which is on Kickstarter,” says Katie Morrison, who plays the human rogue Daisy Thistleheart in the current High Rollers campaign.
“Throughout all of my High Rollers 10 years, I’ve been saying, maybe we should do a campaign guide. I’m going to do a campaign guide. And it’s never happened, because it’s a lot of work. But this year, that’s what we’ve planned with our partners, Roll & Play Press,” adds Dungeon Master Mark/Mara Hulmes, who explains that the campaign guide is focused on the world of Altheya.
“It’s a massive guide all about our latest campaign setting. The characters from the Altheya campaign will be present – they’re on the cover – but they won’t be NPC stat blocks. We have been chatting with Roll & Play Press, and we’ll probably have quotes and little vignettes of the characters scattered throughout, giving their commentary on the world.
“You will also be able to play our special subclasses. Kim [Richards]’s Druid, Gruffudd of Tremorrew, is the Circle of the Green Shield subclass, and Rhiannon [Frost]’s character, Ophelia, is a Barbarian Warlock with the Path of the Bloodfury subclass – and both of those are available in the book. Daisy’s new magic bow Parhelion is also in there. You may also see a few familiar faces in the artwork, in taverns and on the road.
“But we use the tagline ‘A time of stories’ and it’s all about the stories that other people can tell, so we want it to be focused on them. Whether somebody who picks this up runs a full campaign in the world of Ilmera or thinks a town or an NPC sounds really cool and decides to add that to their homebrew game, it’s their choice.”
Publisher Roll & Play Press is handling production of Altheya: The Dragon Empire – A High-Fantasy 5E Setting, which is billed as “a land where dragons rule, planes clash in eternal wars and magical vaults hold ancient secrets.”
“Roll & Play Press have been on this 10-year journey with us,” says Mark/Mara. “I met them many years ago at their very first MCM Comic Con, where they were selling hand-bound books on a little fold-out trestle table. When we started talking about doing a campaign guide with them, the 10-year anniversary was the right time to do it.
“And if it does well, we can look at doing the previous campaign settings, because we know Aerois was really popular, as it’s a sci-fi fantasy setting inspired by JRPGs and anime and science fiction shows.”
The 10-year anniversary celebrations for High Rollers might also include a few special streams outside of the main campaign. And while the group usually plays using Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, things might get a little bit Critical Roll in 2026.
“Apart from the merch and the events, we will probably do some more mini campaigns,” Mark/Mara shares. “We know that our Curse of Strahd series was really popular with people because it was a bit shorter, a bit more condensed. Maybe we’ll do something in a different system. I think we all really enjoyed trying out Daggerheart and I would love to run the world of Altheya in a mini-series using that system.”
For the full version of this interview, see Issue 112 of Tabletop Gaming magazine.