Best Gameplay In Daggerheart

Daggerheart, the tabletop RPG from the minds at Critical Role, is a fun and fresh take on TTRPGs. Based on the open beta test, it’s clear that there are a lot of familiar and brand-new elements to be found within the system. And, for longtime fans of Critical Role, it’s exciting to see the new directions this game is taking the brand.

But, if you’re not already familiar with the open beta of Daggerheart or Critical Role, you might ask if it’s worth all the hype? Allow this list to put your mind at ease. Here are ten things to look forward to most when trying out Daggerheart.

For this list, we’ll be referencing what’s available in the 1.5 version of the Daggerheart open beta, which is subject to change!

10

Unique Playable Ancestries

Ribbets And Clanks And Simiahs, Oh My!

Even longtime TTRPG players may find some unique ancestries to play as in Daggerheart. Ancestries are Daggerheart’s version of Dungeons & Dragons’ ‘species.’ Beyond your typical elves, dwarves, and various fey-creatures, Daggerheart has a wide-range of anthropomorphic options to choose from. Come next spring, you can choose from Ribbets, bipedal frogs, Simiahs, which are anthropomorphic apes, or even clanks, sentient automatons.

But, luckly, that’s not all. Daggerheart will also offer rules for mixed ancestry. This allows you to choose from two different ancestries and even come up with bespoke naming conventions for this new ancestry.

9

Combat Rules For Wheelchair Users

At Long Last!

Though not initially available in the open beta, Daggerheart promises to have unique combat rules for wheelchair users. For those familiar with other TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, rules like this have often been limited to homebrews you can find online. But, this is far from the case with Daggerheart.

In addition, Daggerheart will also offer rules for players who wish to inhabit characters with other physical disabilities like blindness or deafness. These rules will likely be a welcome reprieve from the lack of representation in some other tabletop systems.

8

Unique Classes

Fresh Takes And Old Favorites

Similar to ancestries, Daggerheart also has some unique classes that are specific to its world! It’s true that some of them share similarities to other classes from other TTRPGs. But, between unique abilities and multiclassing potential, these new classes are easy to get hyped about.

There’s the new seraph class, which is the primary healing class for Daggerheart. Additionally, there’s also the guardian, which almost functions like a tank character in hero-based shooter games. Finally, there’s the warrior, which almost functions like a cross between Dungeons & Dragons classes like monk and fighter. All three of these new classes can also be combined with more familiar classes like wizard or druid to form special hybrid multiclasses.

7

New Campaign Settings

It’s A Whole New World

The open beta of Daggerheart offered up a handful of unique locations crafted specifically for the game. These range from distinct locales like the Solsunk Sea or Gindalia, City of Obligation. These places can be utilized for your campaign as is or even customized with the help of your table. In addition to these locations offered, Daggerheart’s open beta also created two unique Campaign Frames.

These are, in essence, inciting incidents and unique rules you can apply to your table to create adventures within. For example, the Campaign Frame ‘Five Banners Burning’ gives GM’s inspiration for how to run a campaign in a world that’s on the brink of all-out war. With the potential for expansions, it’s possible Daggerheart’s finished version may have more Campaign Frames or locales on offer!

6

Collaborative Worldbuilding

Share The World You’re In

One of the more singular aspects of Daggerheart is its invitation for collaborative worldbuilding. Rather than leave this just to the GM, Daggerheart encourages tables to craft a new world together. Even some of Daggerheart’s Campaign Frames promise to offer fillable maps for your table to work on together.

In addition to interactive maps, Daggerheart also offers Session Zero-specific questions for the table to consider together. These come in handy when designing a world for the characters to inhabit. These can be things like ‘Do we want conflict between characters?’ or ‘What are the main motifs of this campaign?’

5

Special Character Death Rules

It’s The Last Gasp

Character death is one of the most interesting parts of any TTRPG. And while a lot of the time, it’s best to try to avoid character death, Daggerheart has highly singular rules for this mechanic. In essence, there are three options for death in the game.

When you mark your last hit point, you must make what’s called a death move. You can use ‘Blaze of Glory,’ where you embrace death and go out with a bang, allowing you one last critical success action. You can also ‘Avoid Death’ and face consequences based on a subsequent roll. Or, lastly, you can ‘Risk it All’ and let a roll of the dice decide whether you live or die.

4

Fear And Hope

Which Will You Choose?

In Daggerheart, Hope and Fear are two main forms of currency. When you take actions with your Duality Dice, one represents Fear and the other Hope. When you roll both dice to pass difficulty checks, whichever dice is higher allows you to roll with Hope or with Fear.

In this unique form of gameplay, when you roll with Hope, you gain a Hope as currency up to a maximum of six. You can spend Hope to activate spells and other abilities. But, if your Fear dice is higher, the GM can spend that currency to work against you. This system is sure to make for some dramatic push-pull between players and GMs.

3

Domain Card System

Character Artwork Abound

The Domain Card system is also relatively unique to Daggerheart. These are cards with special artwork on them that contain rules for abilities, spells, and other features unique to each class. There are a couple of fun boons this system offers.

First, it’s easy to imagine a world in which Daggerheart consistently adds tons of new Domain Cards. These could be unique to a special adventure module, or even a new class. In addition, the extra artwork these cards contain is certain to be amazing up close and personal.

2

Homebrew Guides

No More Freewheeling It!

Though a taste of this was not fully offered in the open beta, Daggerheart promises to include rules for homebrew! Towards the back of the open beta, players and GMs can see headers for a variety of homebrew rules that are still in progress. Seeing these in action in the spring is enough to get any veteran TTRPG player’s heart fluttering.

Some of these headers in the open beta included rules for custom classes and subclasses, as well as ancestries, campaign frames, environments, and equipment. What’s more, it seems that there will be templates for creating your own Domain Cards!

1

Unique Weapons And Items

Wield What’s Rightfully Yours

Daggerheart’s beta also has suggestions for unique items and weapons! While, in the future, it also seems like there’ll be plenty of options for homebrewing these, the starting options are also plenty of fun by themselves. These include things like Phoenix Feathers, which can help save you from death, or consumables like Morphing Clay, which can disguise characters.

Daggerheart’s item table also offers rules for rolling random magic items. Depending on the rarity of the item you want to generate, you can roll a certain number of d12s. The more d12s you roll, the higher chance you get for a rare or entirely legendary item. It’s also highly likely more of these will be added as Dagggerheart progresses and updates!