Altheya: The Dragon Empire

**Altheya: The Dragon Empire** is High Rollers' third main campaign. It is a high magic fantasy campaign DMed by Mark Hulmes and is set in the homebrew setting of the Altheya Nexus, inspired by many classic fantasy sources such as the Lord of the Rings and Records of Lodoss War, with additional inspiration from various games and anime. It premiered on 5th November 2023.

The stories of the players will be very defined by the specific part of the Altheya setting that the campaign takes place in - the Dragon Empire of Ilmera. The campaign will feature adjustments to various Dungeons and Dragons elements that Mark prefers to play in his world.

## **Storyline**

### Overview

* Campaign 3 is set "5-6 years" after the events that occurred in the Prologue stream.
* It follows the adventures of five disparate characters who met along the road to, or in the village of, Burnell, in the province of Caldra.
* Murder Plot

### **Chapters**

*See also: List of Altheya: The Dragon Empire episodes*

Altheya: The Dragon Empire consists of 1 chapter.

### **Specials**

Altheya: The Dragon Empire has a number of special releases.

## **Prologue Stream**

##### **Prologue Stream (Main Crew + Guests)**

This stream was broadcast live from TwitchCon Amsterdam from the Glitch Theatre at 14:15 CEST on 16th July 2022. The announced title was "The City of Dragons".

Players:

* Chris Trott
* Katie Morrison
* Myre
* Rhiannon Frost
* Scott Major
* Tom Hazell

## Setting

Mark said that there will be room for flexibility in his new setting and that he will be focusing on a continent at a time, which is probably the one in which the High Rollers crew will start. It will allow him to shift to a different continent if there is a need/want to have something different (e.g. more sci-fi content could be run on a continent that is more technologically advanced). The world name is Altheya, and the starting continent is Ilmera. Mark is hoping that the campaigns in Ilmera will be more of a sandbox and that he will need to prepare less than he had for the Aerois campaign.

Compared to Aerois, where the main story has been more of a "characters save the world from the BBEG", the plan is for campaign 3 to be more of a focus on people's individual stories with a number of smaller subplots.

In addition to the reworking of the races, the setting also contains magic items and monsters. The plan is eventually to publish the new campaign setting as a book published independently using the Systems Reference Document (SRD) under the Open Game License (OGL). Mark said that it is likely that the physical book will be produced through a Kickstarter campaign. In addition, Mark says that he would like to put the core setting online for free (or pay what you want).

## **Lore**

In a video released to YouTube on 30 October 2023, Mark revealed the following canon lore:

*The new campaign is taking place in a custom setting I've written and whilst we'll be able to show you more about this world in the show, I wanted to give you a little bit of lore and background as well as talk about some of its influences before we begin.*

·        Altheya is a classic high fantasy setting inspired by the likes of Azeroth from World of Warcraft, the Forgotten Realms from Dungeons and Dragons; worlds like Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings and Westeros from Game of Thrones have some influence as well, but magic in Altheya is a lot more common. And whilst technology is still fairly basic, it's a bit more advanced in some places too, a kind of mixture of mediaeval and Renaissance levels.

·        There are the classic fancy ancestries like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, as well as magical creatures like Dragons, and Displacer Beasts, but they all have different origins, and may be quite different to your usual fantasy expectations.

·        The various lands, nations and kingdoms of Altheya all have their own unique elements, cultures and beliefs that make the setting its own thing, and will give a different perspective depending on where in the story the campaign takes place.

There are a few things that are somewhat universal across all of Altheya.

### Proto Magi

Long ago, an ancient species of powerful spellcasters called the Proto Magi once slumbered within Altheya, when they were awoken by the gods, a great conflict erupted. And one of the results of that conflict was the Proto Magi being wiped out, leaving behind secret places hidden across Altheya, ruins and strange devices that open into demi planes and extra dimensional spaces that the alien Proto Magi used for mysterious purposes.

### Vaults (Dungeons)

These vaults contain immense magical power and resources, but getting inside them is often a task of itself. Each vault is seemingly its own puzzle with specific conditions to open it, different rules within it, numerous guardians and traps to contend with.

Monsters from within Vaults are known as Vaultspawn, and include many classic monstrous D&D enemies, like Gnolls.

### The Crown

The Crown is a crumbling broken second moon that looms above Altheya. Some cultures believe The Crown contains the essence of a creator god who fought the Proto Magi. Others believe it is a graveyard for dead gods who died long ago. Whatever is believed, pieces of this moon occasionally break off and fall to Altheya’s surface, bringing with them terrible infusions of celestial and fiendish creatures that are berserk with fury and seek to kill and destroy whatever they can. The Fallen Moonstone itself also carries a strange metal ore that can be forged and has powerful but corrupting effects.

### The oceans and ocean travel

Travelling across the seas and oceans of Altheya is extremely dangerous, making anywhere not connected by land quite isolated from each other. There are several reasons for why the oceans are so deadly.

One part comes from the unstable, erratic and magically influenced tides and storms, which can easily destroy most ships or take down even flying creatures.

The other is from dark mysterious forces that dwell in the deep, who violently attack any ships they come across.

Various cultures have different names for these creatures, but all share a belief that some greater power commands them and claims the sea as their own domain.

### Wider setting

The wider setting of Altheya, its history and unique properties are something of a backdrop though, the stories of the player characters is really defined by the specific part of Altheya in which the campaign takes place. And in this case, that would be the Dragon Empire of Ilmera.

### Ilmera, The Dragon Empire

The Dragon Empire is a society where Dragons are the rulers. They are feudal nobles, who grant land, protection and guidance to the people in exchange for a tithe and military service. It was founded by the first Dragon, the Dragon Empress, who created the different Dragon hosts (or Dragon types) and discovered early humanoids, teaching them how to survive in the world. The Empire is divided into seven different provinces, and each of them are governed by a Dragon host, more specifically, the head of a Dragon host, an arch Dragon. Each province has a unique landscape that is magically influenced by the arch Dragon, and over time, the different regions have developed their own cultures and quirks, which also seem to be partially influenced by the nature of the ruling Dragons.

### Dragons

Dragons in Altheya come in seven types red, blue, black, green, bronze, silver, and gold. Whilst each Dragon type has some similar personality traits to that found in the 5e rules, they have no set alignments. A red Dragon is typically proud and emotional but is no more likely to be evil than a gold Dragon. In addition to this, some of the Dragon types have different elements or magical affinities to what you might know. Green Dragons, for example, have an affinity for plants and healing magic instead of poison.

### Religion

Within the Empire, the church of the Scion is a dominant faith, teaching that worthy souls ascend and become divine saints working alongside the Goddesses to safeguard Altheya. Those who are not yet deemed worthy, are reborn and cleansed of their memories and previous deeds to try again. Those who meddle in planar magic, or act in an unworthy manner, are taken by the planar powers and turned into mindless soldiers doomed to fight in an unending war in the planes of existence.

### Social structure

Most folk work the land, run businesses, or serve the Dragon nobles in a variety of roles and live a peaceful and prosperous life. Ambitious individuals, though, might seek to become Knights or Reeves or Authoritors, titles given to non-Dragons who prove themselves and hold elevated positions and status within the empire. Knights, in particular, are beloved by the people, and their stories are told around fires and sung in taverns.

Campaign three starts on November 5 live on Twitch and will be available a few days later on YouTube and podcast.

### Calendar

The calendar in Altheya is different to normal. There are 7 months that are broken down into 3 periods of 12 days (first moon, mid moon, and late moon – the moon phases).

One of the Spring months (the first month) is Greentide.

The second month is Stormfall.

The third month is Bronzeglow.

## Early release information

In this world, Dragons make up the nobility of one of the continents, Ilmera (AKA The Dragon Empire), and are in charge of that continent: they own and rule the land, and all other races are vassals to them. In some areas they are good and ensure the prosperity of their people, but in others, they are more selfish and greedy. They are all united by the first Dragon, The Dragon Empress, but a few years ago, the Dragon Empress was assassinated by person or persons unknown; this has thrown the empire into chaos, creating a power vacuum, but no one is quite ready to assume the throne for fear of creating havoc or being slain themselves. With multiple Dragons eyeing the throne, it is likely that the PCs will be caught up in the political scheming created by this power vacuum.

Ilmera is split into different provinces, themed around the different types of dragon, primarily metallic and chromatic dragons. At this stage, the Empire does not know about gem dragons, so it is not known yet if they will appear in this setting,

Society is a feudal system: all non-Dragons are protected by the Dragons who are the rulers and nobles of the land. Arch-Dragons magically create and control the land. All non-Dragons get to live on and work the land, build cities and have families, but give a tithe to the Dragons for their hoard. In return, the Dragon protects them via a military force, or "by being a Dragon". Non-Dragons cannot become nobles (because they are **not** Dragons), but there are positions in society that are highly respected (such as a Mayor, a Commander, a Knight or a Judge/Investigator) and these positions, that can be filled by Dragons or non-Dragons, come with benefits and perks.

Gold Dragons will be bankers - they know down to a copper piece, with a perfect memory, what is in their hoard and the exact value of any item (they know this supernaturally, even if they are not at their hoard when something is taken).

Any Dragon can shapeshift unless they are a wyrmling (young, adult, ancient and arch-Dragon), and will all be able to take on a humanoid form. They will be noticeably Dragons, not just Dragonborn: they are likely to be 9ft tall, have horns, tails and wings (maybe even a magical glow!).

Fiends and Celestials will both potentially be enemies that the players can fight. Mark loves the idea that if angels can fall and become corrupted into fiends or evil, then Devils and Demons can become good (but that is rare). For the most part Fiends and Celestials are good and evil because they are tied to their planes: if they spend long periods of time away from their plane (trapped in another plane), they can change alignment because they are no longer being influenced by their natural plane. This is similar to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Kobolds are a player race. They are not evil. They are created by Dragons to be subservient, like nannies for their young: a dragon may have 30 Kobolds simply to take care of its young, their lair and their palace, and in turn are protected by the Dragons. Kobolds enjoy their role in society and like feeling helpful and useful to the Dragons whom they admire. Many young Kobolds, however, wish to do other things and ask permission to leave: this is often granted by the Dragons because they are grateful for the Kobolds' service, or they have Humans, Dwarves and Elves who can also do the jobs that the Kobolds leave behind.

Mark says that there will be a faction that is anti-Dragon and rebellious, and he "fully expects" that Chris Trott will want to join them.

Mark is taking from Eberron that Dragons and many other creatures will not follow the same alignments as monster races. Dragons will be unaligned (can be any alignment decided by the Dragons through their actions and their morals). Mark has engineered creatures that will always be evil (Vaultspawn (chimera and manticores), Mind Flayers, Undead, and most Fiends) so that the players can kill them with no moral concerns.

There is an ancient magical civilisation (The Proto-Magi) who have left vaults (described as "dimensional, timey-wimey dungeons to explore") where all the best loot and magic spells can be found.

The moon is a "super crazy wild god prison moon" which imprisons the creator deity sovereign, a non-binary deity that created Altheya but was imprisoned by the other goddesses who tried to kill everyone. There are great comets (which are actually pieces of Sovereign) that fall from the moon, and when they crash land on the planet they bring mad celestials and fiends with them that attack everyone but leave behind rare resources.

There will be **both dungeons *and* dragons** in this setting!

On 30th October 2023, High Rollers released a deep dive video into the lore of Ilmera, The Dragon Empire, the titular continent of the campaign. The video can be found on YouTube here.

### **Races**

Mark has reworked the Player's Handbook races for this setting, as well as revising their balance and addressing what he considers to be problematic content. He has moved closer to a 4e design in that each race will get "a cool thing it can do once per short rest, a cool thing it does all the time, and a small RP-flavoured minor ability. All three of those things are unique to that species; no other species gets to do those things. Elves and Dark Elves, while they may have similar ancestry, will get different 'once per short rest' power."

There are no specific ability score increases for certain races: all races get the same ability score increase potential. With Dragons in the new setting, Mark is making the Elves have a longer life again (compared to Aerois). For Elves and Dwarves (who live long lives), **personal** reputation will be most important, whereas for the shorter-lived races (Humans, Halflings, Orcs, Tieflings, etc.) a **family's** reputation will be far more important.

Dwarves may start growing gems or metals from their body and are slowly taken over by these growths over time. Revered members of a family may be turned into a weapon, armour or trinket and be passed down the family line, while those who had been a criminal or burden to society might be turned into simple tools that would then prove of benefit to the society that they had spurned (some form of redemption?).

The plan is that Elves are not native to the world, but are refugees from the Feyweald, having escaped a war and coup by the Hags and Formians: they have arrived in the new world having given up their immortality and now need to adjust to their new situation.

### **Mechanics**

Mark is using some things from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, and says that the Dragon Monk and Ranger would be fine for the players to play if they wish, but most things is his own design.

He has made 6 subclasses (one of which is an Oath of Love Paladin - available on his Patreon), two custom races, added Kobolds, and done a complete revamp of the PHB races to be a closer match to the lore of the new setting (especially Dark Elves and Duergar). Mark has written his own lore for this setting. He said that he is unlikely to use MCDM's Strongholds and Followers or Kingdoms and Warfare supplements at this stage.

Two of the new sub-classes have been released on Mark's Patreon already, and one was designed specifically for Dodger's character (although it was already in the planning stages).

Mark is still deciding whether he will use injury checks for this campaign and how they might work if he does.

**Scrapped character**

Rhiannon revealed an idea that she had for a character on the High Rollers DnD fund-raising stream on 20/11/21. The character is a Dragonborn (the name Agythaa is unofficial), but would be the spawn of a Dragon and a humanoid race. Rhiannon suggested that her character would be a runaway bride from an arranged marriage, so is now being hunted down.

Tom indicated that while he enjoys playing a caster in the Aerois campaign, he really loved playing a melee character in Curse of Strahd, so was likely to look at more of a tank character. He would also consider playing a Druid tank or possibly a Paladin, just wants to "hit something super hard".

Katie indicated that she has enjoyed playing melee.

## Homebrew Rules

*Main article: Altheya Homebrew Rules*
A number of homebrew or borrowed game mechanics are in use in Altheya. These include custom travel and rest mechanics.

## Hints, Teasers, and Sneak Peeks

On 1st October, Kim and Katie posted the following to their respective Instagram pages. Rhi added hers soon after on Instagram and Tom put his on the High Rollers Discord. Trott was the last to add his teaser to the HR Instagram account.

## **Guest Players**

Mark indicated in a stream on his channel on 19th July 2022 that there would be multiple guest characters. Those he indicated would be likely/possible to play guest characters in C3 proper were:

* Myre
* Smajor
* Joe Fudge
* Strippin
* Dodger

## **Music**

An extended version of the official Altheya: The Dragon Empire Theme was released on YouTube on 28th October 2023. The music was composed by Jolene Khor and performed by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. The video can be found on YouTube here.

## **Gallery**

Official ArtCampaign setting logo prototype by Arsequeef
## **Patreon Content**

* Oath of Love Paladin (Public)
* D&D WIP - Races OVERHAUL - Legends of Altheya
* Content Update - May the 4th (be with you) (Public)
* Pact of the Dragon - Alpha V1

1. ↑ According to Mark on a Twitch stream on his channel (9th December 2023).