Natural Six is an actual play series set in the fictional world of Reliquiae where six video game industry professionals play Dungeons & Dragons. The group consists of American actor Doug Cockle, Northern Irish producer and writer Aoife Wilson, Welsh communications manager Hollie Bennett, and British actors Ben Starr, Alex Jordan, and Harry McEntire, with the latter serving as the primary Dungeon Master for the series. New episodes premiere weekly on YouTube, with story episodes alternating with Action Surge post-show episodes. Serving Cantrip, a Twitch hangout, is also held fortnightly.
The series has also been performed live at PAX East and MCM Comic Con London after debuting at EGX 2023.
History
In June 2023, the cast came together to discuss playing Dungeons & Dragons in a London pub and "five bottles of rosé later..." decided they wanted to do so in front of a camera. Some of the group had met before, with the genesis of the idea to play having come when Alex Jordan and Ben Starr got to talking in the Side recording studio reception in London. Both were waiting to go into a booth and record for different video games. Jordan recruited colleague Doug Cockle and Starr brought in Hollie Bennett, having met her a mutual friend's house-warming party, as well as Harry McEntire who had been recommended to him as a potential Dungeon Master by fellow actual play group Oxventure.
In order to fund initial production the group announced a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with a trailer on 9 October 2023. The campaign officially ran from 16 October to 15 November 2023. It received 907 backers, who contributed £67,932, surpassing the initial goal of £50,000 funding the first 10 episodes, plus the addition of miniatures and the podcast version.
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 EGX on 13 October 2023, which served as a Session 0.5.
Following the successful funding for the first 10 episodes a Natural Six Patreon has been introduced, with additional content available by subscription tier, as well as merchandise sales which debuted at MCM Comic Con x EGX 2024. The first online merchanise drop sold out in half an hour.
Production
Format 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.
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 - Elowen "Ellie" Grēnweard – Human fighter (Previously known as Endellion Rinnan)
Episodes Campaign One EpisodeTitleOriginal Release Date0Session Zero27 October 20230.5Session 0.5 Live from EGX3 November 20231The Gods Are Real2 April 20242The Shadow Will Flood16 April 20243Oathbreaker30 April 20244The Newly Dead14 May 20245The Girl in the Cell28 May 20246Hot Heads and Fast Words11 June 20247The Spider and The Flies25 June 20248The Bodies and the Book9 July 20249The Prisoner in the Attic23 July 202410The Kindness of Strangers6 August 202411Trials of the Brothers20 August 202412Flies in the Ointment3 September 202413The God Killers17 September 202414Secrets for Sale1 October 202415Blood, Wine, and Moonlight15 October 202416Politics and Poker Faces29 October 202417A Date with Death12 November 202418A Toast to Trouble26 November 202419Scales of Justice10 December 2024Christmas SpecialCritical Failures, Chaos, and Cocktails24 December 202420The Sting of Suspicion7 January 202521The Sanctum21 January 202522Son of the Treespeaker4 February 202523A Leap into the Unknown18 February 202524City of Shadows4 March 202525Blood of the Kobold18 March 202526The Rift Below1 April 202527Croak and Dagger15 April 202528Burning Shadows29 April 202529The Midnight Moon13 May 202530The Bard and the Bowed27 May 202531The Hand You're Dealt10 June 202532Trust Fall24 June 202533Seeds of Change8th July 202534A Taste of Autumn22nd July 202535Scents and Sensibility5th August 202536The Old Dark19th August 202537Cradle to Grave2nd September 202538Nine Souls Needed16th September 202539The Colour of Divinity30th September 202540The Gross and the Great14th October 202541A Well-Placed Knife28th October 202542Hope is Easy11th November 202543The Last Light25th November 202544The Dreams of Elowen Grēnweard9th December 202545The Last Ride of Calypso Moonrise6th January 202646The House of Unknown Letters20th January 202647The Ganders Grace3rd February 202648Diamonds in the Rough17th February 202649No Secrets Among Friends3rd March 202650Dressed to Impress17th March 202651The Sins of the Sinless31st March 202652The Sword of The Flood14th April 202653Boorish Rebuke28th April 202654Song of the Treespeaker12th May 202655The Forest Grows26th March 202656Bone and Cloth9th June 202657The Everfire23rd June 202658The White Stag7th July 202659The Dragon Rider21th July 202660Hanging by a Thread4th August 202661The Corpsewyrm18th August 202662Just a Wasp1st September 202663Blood of the Dragon15th September 202664Glass and Gold29th September 2026
One Shots +TitleDungeon MasterOriginal Release DateNotesDream of the DragonbornHarry McEntire30 August 2024Using the 2024 Player's HandbookThe Alters x Natural SixAlex Jordan16 June 2025Tie in with The Alters video gameElf 'n' SafetyAlex Jordan23 December 2025Christmas specialWelcome to the Ruby RebellionAoife Wilson30 December 2025Drakonym two-part specialMonsters in the Moonlight16 January 2026Journey to the WitchspireHarry McEntire4 June 2026Tie in with Witchspire by Envar gamesThe Journey BeginsAoife Wilson2 July 2026Legends of Akeroth two-part specialCrabs, Cranks & Crowns16 July 2026
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