A new Dungeons & Dragons actual play is in the works, featuring even more familiar faces from the voices and creatives of the gaming industry. Titled "Natural Six", the campaign posted the Kickstarter trailer—shown above—to their YouTube channel earlier this week (thanks, Dicebreaker). Leading the group as its DM is Harry McEntire, who is the voice of Noah from Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
It'll also feature a cast brimming with talent from across the gaming industry, including Doug Cockle (Geralt from The Witcher), Benn Starr (Clive Rosfield from Final Fantasy 16), and Alex Jordan—who played Mr. Hands in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and, by his own admission, a lot of the sexy noises from Baldur's Gate 3. Hollie Bennett (head of Influencers and Engagement at Frontier) and Eurogamer's Aoife Wilson will also be joining the crew.
While you can back the project on Kickstarter starting October 16—which aims to bankroll a 10-episode long season, more Dimension 20 than Critical Role in length—most of the juicy details can be found on the project's YouTube channel.
One feature I'm a big fan of is the 'Deck of Many Friends', a Kickstarter reward described by McEntire as a deck of "twenty two cards, each one unique, each one representing the soul of a former adventurer". Donate enough, and you'll bag yourself a spot for your own character, bespoke art created by Matt Zan, and a potential guest highlight on the stream itself.
The mechanics are as follows: alongside your character, you'll also roll a 20-sided dice, the result of which will be stamped on the card. "In moments of dire need, whether it's a party member rolling a natural one, an antagonist rolling a natural 20, the party can call on the power of the Deck of Many Friends … and replace their roll, or an antagonist's roll with yours."
The setting of Reliquiae (pronounced Rell-ick-uee-ayy) itself also seems interesting—the core concept's simple. Gods gathered into three groups (the Virtuous, the Wild, and the Vile) had a big war, the Virtuous won, and they created an enormous crater surrounded by mountains. Cue a long-lasting fantasy age of peace.
The fly in the ointment, as it were, is the Web—an organisation that does terrible things for a price. "You could pay in gold for this terrible thing, or you could pay in time in servitude to the Web." The whole party, one way or another, have become members of this cabal of skullduggery. Antiheroes it is then.
That's a great recipe for a starting adventure, and a far sight better than "you all meet in a tavern", as much as that has a special place in my heart. After all, Baldur's Gate 3's cast of loveable companions are an eclectic bunch tied together by the fickle bonds of a mindflayer parasite.
I'm just glad to see more talented nerds picking up the liveplay D&D banner myself—like the Baldur's Gate 3's cast delightful livestreams—and I'm certainly looking forward to Geralt's gruff tones gracing my ears. Natural Six's cast will also make an appearance on the live stage at EGX later this week.
