# Natural Six

Natural Six is a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) actual play series set in the fictional world of Reliquiae. New episodes premiere weekly on YouTube, with a weekly post-show segment and a fortnightly Twitch hangout.

## History

In June 2023, six UK-based performers and games industry people came together to discuss playing D&D together, and created a Dungeons & Dragons actual play series. The group launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Announced with a trailer on 9 October 2023, the campaign officially ran from 16 October to 15 November 2023. The response saw the first 10 episodes receive full backing, plus the addition of miniatures and the podcast version. The Kickstarter received 907 backers, contributing £67,932, surpassing the initial goal of £50,000.
The campaign's launch day also featured a YouTube video where the cast rolled their characters. On 27 October 2023, they followed up with a pre-recorded Session Zero.
As part of the pre-launch, the group hosted a live show at the EGX expo on 13 October 2023, which served as a Session 0.5. At the event the cast and characters were announced for the series before it debuted. A recording of this session was later uploaded to YouTube on 3 November 2023.
Following the successful funding for the first 10 episodes the Natural Six on Patreon, with additional content available by subscription tier.

## Action Surge

In addition to story episodes, Natural Six also releases Action Surge, available one week after the release of story episodes or immediately for Patreon members. Originally designed to help maintain a weekly content schedule—since the team could only film and fund two full story episodes per month—Action Surge was designed to be a companion to the main adventure. Action Surge episodes alternate weekly with story episodes and are available as both video and podcast versions.

## World and story

Natural Six follows a story designed and written by the Dungeon Master Harry McEntire. Initially conceived for a series of offline D&D sessions, the group turned it into an actual play series once McEntire shared his initial plans for the story.
Thousands of years ago, the Gods were locked in a divine war as the embodiments of good (The Virtuous), evil (The Vile), and order and chaos (The Wild) did battle. After millennia, The Virtuous were victorious and ushered in the Immortal Peace, consigning the memory of evil to history. Driven by a desire to use their divine power to create, rather than destroy, they called into existence Reliquiae, a great fertile crater surrounded on all sides by a ring of impassable mountains called The Allanites.
Once peace settled, each God also brought forth a mortal race to populate this new world, imbuing them with an essence of their own divinity. Mortality flourished; cities, towns, trade routes, and centres of magic and learning sprung up as the land fed its people and the Gods offered counsel.
Yet, even during peace, the mortal realm often falls short of perfection; feuds, thefts, murders, extortions, and all manner of other ills can be found throughout the land, despite its political and religious stability. From this, The Web was born.
The Web is an organization that offers protection and procurement, at a price. Originally founded in the city of Eskalond, The Web has grown in influence and scope, expanding rapidly to spread itself across the continent. It is known by many as the last refuge of the desperate. If a farmer owes a debt they cannot pay, if a family wishes to settle an age-old score, or a scholar longs to recover something lost long ago, they seek the silken embrace of The Web.
Those who wish to avail themselves of The Web's services can pay in gold or time. Many of the debts of those paying "the time price" pledge years of their life or even subsequent generations of their family.
The story starts by following the stories of five heroes as they begin their mission.

## Cast and characters

Natural Six is formed of six principal cast members—one Dungeon Master and five player characters
* Harry McEntire - Dungeon Master
* Doug Cockle - Kelnys – Dragonborn Druid
* Ben Starr - Raidion Thornbear – Wood Elf Wizard
* Aoife Wilson - Dolly DeWinter – Tiefling Bard
* Alex Jordan - I – Kobold Rogue
* Hollie Bennett - Endellion Rinnan ("Elli") – Human Fighter

## Production

Episodes are recorded in-studio, with filming taking place one weekend a month, recording two story episodes and two Action Surge episodes per weekend. Natural Six typically stays one to two episodes ahead of the published story episodes. Filming, editing, and production are managed by the video production agency DoubleJump.