May the pen be mightier than the sword.

Zach Carlson
Feb 1, 2017
2 min read

Have you ever sat down trying to write, draw or create something, and noting just comes? you lack that inspiration that creative drive. I know, being the author of a few Dungeons and Dragons campaigns and well as and aspiring filmmaker or content creator, that feeling all too well. Sure i can watch a movie or something and pull an idea from there, but nothing sparks that creative drive like the Yogscast HighRollers live stream. More specifically the Dungeon Master for this stream, Mark "sherlock" Hulmes.

Mark Hulmes is the community manager for

business and YouTube franchise the Yogscast based in England. He recently started his new channel called "table top weekly" in which he teaches and explores various tabletop games, Mainly Dungeons and Dragons. Mark has made numerous apprentices in different live streams which include other members of the yogscast. The main stream he appears in is Highrollers in which he hosts on a weekily basis.

Mark is my inspiration for many reasons; how he treats his players, the super imaginative world in which he has created, and his attitude while on camera. The world in which he has immersed his players in on the Highrollers live stream is original, and dynamic. The story written is beautifully told and executed. For anyone who plays Dungeons and Dragons a lot with multiple different DM's Knows that every DM has their own style and flair, but some times things get out of hand and they loose control of their own story. Mark even while being on camera maintains his composure and always has a grip on the story, even when the players decide to throw the story off. which usually happens with a character of a players creation named granny trell. and i admire that for in my own campaigns that isn't easy to do.

The story of the Highrollers Fantastically creative. Following Four charters: Juto, a monk tiefling; Elora, a high-elf Druid; Cam buckland, a human claric; and trellimar/Granny Trell, a dark elf warlock. These characters are played by: Kim, playing juto; Kattie, playing Elora; Chris, playing cam; and Matt, playing Trell. The story itself has no visuals, and is told through word of mouth like most D&D games. This places all visuals in ones head and for me that really helps with that inspiration flow. Now i'm not saying that i copy his ideas verbatim, But i use them to create my own scenarios with similar scenarios useing Marks creative twist or use of a monster or a trap or a scenario.

If you want to see what i mean here is the first episode of Highrollers,