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Daggerheart

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Daggerheart is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) system "designed for long-term campaign play and rich character progression" published by Darrington Press LLC.[1] The lead designer is Spenser Starke.[2] The Daggerheart Core Rulebook was released on 20 May 2025.[3]

History[]

The system was first announced in "State of the Press | Darrington Press 2023 Announcements" and on the Critical Role website on 20 April 2023. The website stated: "Daggerheart: Adventure, Hope, and Fear (4 hours): Heroes needed! Create characters and embark upon a fresh fantasy adventure as you get a taste for this new system featuring rich, accessible storytelling and a focus on long-term campaign play."

Daggerheart promo - Nikki Dawes

Official art of a Daggerheart promotional piece, by Nikki Dawes.[art 2]

Daggerheart was playtested at GenCon in August 2023.[4] Open beta playtesting started on Critical Role's 9th anniversary: 12 March 2024.[5] In connection with this release, the cast of Critical Role livestreamed a special Daggerheart one-shot on Tuesday, March 12th at 7pm Pacific on both Twitch and YouTube, and a Daggerheart.com website was revealed.[6]

On September 17, 2024, pre-orders for Daggerheart were announced to be live.[7] The cast played a "final version" of Daggerheart on December 7, 2024 in a live, Critmas-themed show.[8] During Matthew Mercer's second Fireside Chat on Beacon, Matt gave a sneak peak at the core rulebook as well as the Age of Umbra, a grimdark fantasy setting featured in Critical Role's Daggerheart miniseries beginning 29 May 2025.[9] and the cast later revealed small details about the miniseries, such as trivia about the characters and the fact that resurrection isn't an option.[10]

The Daggerheart Core Rulebook, the System Reference Document 1.0, and the core gaming set in regular and limited editions were released in May 2025.[3][11][12] Darrington Press also launched a new playtest website – called "The Void" – for Daggerheart. This website hosts expanded playtest mechanics for Daggerheart such as new character classes and ancestries.[13][14][15]

At Gen Con, in July 2025, Darrington Press announced multiple upcoming expansions for the game – a romantasy themed campaign frame titled "With Love and Magic" scheduled for release in 2026, a setting exploring a new genre for the game by Jeremy Crawford, an "interconnected adventure supplement" for various Daggerheart campaign frames by Chris Perkins, and a "new world" with player options created by Keith Baker and Jenn Ellis.[16] Darrington Press also announced an upcoming Kickstarter, scheduled to launch in September 2025, for a play accessory focused on the nine classes from the core rulebook.[16]

Formats[]

In June 2025 it was announced that Daggerheart would be available in five more languages in print and PDF: Spanish, French, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and German.[17]

Campaign Frames[]

→ Main article: Realms of Daggerheart.

The Daggerheart core rulebook features six campaign frames. Lead designer Spenser Starke described them as "a starter kit for running a campaign".[11] Each frame is covered in "about 10-20 pages" and focuses "on a specific subgenre or concept" for a campaign structure.[11] Starke explained that each frame includes "an overall narrative hook, some interesting lore you can incorporate into your campaign, a map of the region you can customize, a starting scenario to kick off your first session, and some mechanical additions or adjustments that impact the way the game runs".[11]

Campaign Frame Creator Description Inspiration
Core Rulebook (2025)
Age of Umbra Matthew Mercer "In a dying world immersed in relentless shadow and nightmarish monsters, small communities hold fast to the light, hoping those who endure can find a way to save this broken realm before all is lost to darkness."[18] Kingdom: Death Monster (2015), Elden Ring (2022), Dark Souls (2011),[11] Berserk (1992), The Seventh Seal (1957), Blasphemous (2019)[18]
Beast Feast Banana Chan, Rowan Hall, & Spenser Starke "When a small village's monster defense system fails, the local heroes must venture into the endless caverns below to fix it--and cook up trouble for the monsters that stand in their way!"[18] Delicious in Dungeon (2014), Monster Hunter: World (2018), One Piece (1997)[18]
Colossus of the Drylands Carlos Cisco, Rowan Hall, Spenser Starke, & Mike Underwood "A prosperous region of gunslingers and outlaws has fallen into terror as colossal creatures awaken from beneath the earth."[18] Red Dead Redemption (2010), Shadow of the Colossus (2005), Deadlands (1996), On the Shoulders of Colossus (2020)[18]
Five Banners Burning Mike Underwood "Long-brewing tensions between rival nations boil over, threatening all-out war."[18] A Song of Ice and Fire (1996), Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005), Babylon 5 (1993), Friends at the Table's PARTIZAN (2019) Born to the Blade (2018), Court of Blades (2022), Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014), Eberron: Rising from the Last War (2019)[18]
Motherboard Meguey Baker, Rowan Hall & Spenser Starke "In a world where magic takes the form of the technology left behind by a long-fallen civilization, a new threat rises as a malicious virus spreads through the machines that wander the Wastes."[18] Horizon Zero Dawn (2017), Mortal Engines (2001),[11] Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Final Fantasy (1987), Fullmetal Alchemist (2001), Slugblaster (2022[18]
The Witherwild Carlos Cisco, Rowan Hall, & Spenser Starke "When an invading nation attacks an ancient forest deity, a virulent overgrowth spreads throughout the land."[19] Princess Mononoke (1997), The Legend of Zelda (1986), The Dark Crystal (1982), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)[19]
Expansions
With Love and Magic TBA "Enemies and admirers alike are your rivals as you set out to take on this year's matchmaking season in the shining empire of Lumisara, the city of Crowns".[16] Tusk Love (2025)[16]

Gameplay[]

Matt's Fear by Elaine Tipping

Fan art of Matt's Fear, by Elaine Tipping.[art 3]

The game utilizes two d12s of different colors, one called "Hope" and one called "Fear", the higher roll of which determines which attribute the total roll affects. For example, if the total required to succeed is a 12, rolling less than that on both dice combined is a failure. Rolling that total or above is a success, and if the higher number is on the "Hope" die it's a success with hope; if the higher number is on the "Fear" die it's a success with fear. "Advantage" is given by rolling an additional d6. Rolling a double on the d12s results in a critical success.

Succeeding with Hope gives the player a spendable Hope resource and can give positive narrative benefits while retaining initiative with the player characters in combat, whereas succeeding with Fear gives a Fear resource to the GM, can trigger some narrative consequence, and in combat returns initiative to the enemy.

Hit points, stress, and death mechanics[]

Characters start with 6 hit points. Damage is determined by rolling d6-d20 dice. The player's armor score is subtracted from this roll, but the armor is damaged (armor can be repaired during a short rest). If the total is below a pre-set threshold, the player takes a stress point instead of damage. If it exceeds the threshold, depending on by how much the player loses 1, 2, or three hit points.[2][20]

If a player loses all their hit points, they can choose to either perma-die but achieve a critical success ("Blaze of Glory"), permanently lose a hope point ("Avoid Death"), or roll both hope and fear dice to potentially return without dying ("Risk It All"). There is a single use resurrection spell available per game.[21]

Player Characters[]

Character creation[]

From the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0, these are the character creation steps:

  1. Choose a Class and Subclass: The nine classes available in the SRD are for the most part similar to traditional fantasy TTRPG classes. Each class has two subclasses.
  2. Choose a Heritage: Heritage is comprised of Ancestry (race), plus Community (e.g. Highborne, Underborne).
  3. Assign Your Character Traits: The six traits are Agility, Strength, Finesse, Instinct, Presence, Knowledge.
  4. Set Evasion and Hit Points: Starting Evasion and Hit Points are determined by Class.
  5. Choose your starting inventory: Each player selects a weapon(s) and armor. The weapon selected helps determine Proficiency, while the armor goes into the Armor Score.
  6. Create your Background: Background is the character's backstory, with no mechanical effect.
  7. Choose Experiences: Experiences are created by the player, which provide a +2 modifier to a relevant action roll if the player spends a Hope to do so.
  8. Choose Domain Cards: Each class has access to two Domains (e.g., Codex, Splendor) and each player chooses two cards total between them.
  9. Create Connections: Connections are backstory relationships.

Character Traits[]

Players assign the modifiers +2, +1, +1, +0, +0, -1 to their Agility, Strength, Precision, Presence, Intuition, and Knowledge, in any desired order. These scores are added to ability checks or weapon attacks that utilize that Trait.[22]

Domains[]

Domains are core gameplay themes and abilities. Each class focuses on two domains:

  • Arcana: Instinctive magic
  • Blade: Weaponry
  • Bone: Swiftness, coordination, and tactics
  • Codex: Studied magic
  • Grace: Charisma
  • Midnight: Stealth
  • Sage: Nature magic
  • Splendor: Life magic
  • Valor: Protection and defense

During gameplay, as characters grow in experience they gain new abilities linked to their domains.

Abilities[]

Each class may choose two ability cards from their two class-determined domains. When a player levels up, they may choose more abilities, and have up to five abilities active at any one time. Abilities may be swapped out during rests.

Classes[]

The following classes are available. There are two subclasses per class to choose from.[22]

Class Domains Subclasses Description
Bard Codex & Grace Wordsmith Uses clever wordplay to captivate crowds
Troubadour Uses music to bolster allies
Druid Arcana & Sage Warden of the Elements Embodies nature
Warden of Renewal Uses magic to heal party members
Guardian Blade & Valor Stalwart Takes heavy blows and keeps fighting
Vengeance Strikes down enemies
Ranger Bone & Sage Wayfinder Hunts prey using deadly force
Companion Forms a deep bond with an animal ally
Rogue Grace & Midnight Nightwalker Uses stealth
Syndicate Has useful contacts everywhere
Seraph Splendor & Valor Winged Sentinel Flies and fights from the sky
Divine Wielder Dominates the battlefield with a legendary weapon
Sorcerer Arcana & Midnight Primal Origin Extends the versatility of spells
Elemental Origin Channels raw magic to an elemental shape
Warrior Blade & Bone Call of the Slayer Strikes down adversaries with power
Call of the Brave Uses the might of enemies against them
Wizard Codex & Splendor School of Knowledge Understands the world
School of War Uses magic for violence

Ancestries[]

Similar to races in D&D 5e, the following ancestries are available:[23]

Ancestry Description Mechanics
Clank Mechanical humanoids Purposeful Design: Choose an Experience that reflects your purpose and add +1 to to.
Drakona Wingless dragon humanoids Elemental Breath: Use as a weapon
Dwarf Increased Fortitude: Spend 3 Hope to take half damage
Elf Elven Trance: During a long rest, roll d8s equivalent to number of Stress you have. Clears all Stress. If any d8s match this number, also clear all Hit Points.
Faerie Wings: Use Stress to fly (Evasion +2) until next Fear roll
Luckbender: 1x/session, after an Action Roll by yourself or ally, can use a Stress to allow a reroll of Duality Dice
Faun Deer humanoids with antlers Headbutt: Use 1 Fear to damage enemy
Firbolg Natural Calm: If roll a 6 on a d6, takes no Stress
Fungril Fungus humanoids Always Connected: Hivemind with other Fungril
Galapa Turtle humanoids Shell of Protection: Add proficiency to armor score
Giant Endurance: Extra hit points slot.
Reach: All melee weapons' range increases to Very Close.
Goblin Danger Sense: Once per short rest, use a stress to reroll an attack roll. If it still hits you, reduce the incoming value by your Proficiency.
Halfling Little Lucky: Reroll 1s on Hope dice. At start of each session, everyone in party gets a Hope.
Human Perseverance: If you fail a roll utilizing an Experience, you can use 1 Hope to reroll.
Infernis Descendants of fallen gods from the Circle Below. Fearless: When rolling with Fear, can choose to mark a Stress instead of the GM gaining Fear.
Dread Visage: Advantage on rolls to intimidate non-daemons.
Katari Cat humanoid Feline Instincts: Can use 1 Stress to reroll Hope Die on any Agility roll.
Orc Sturdy: Roll a d6 when using armor. On a 5 or 6, damage is reduced at no cost to armor slots.
Ribbet Frog humanoid Amphibious: Can breathe and move underwater as on land.
Long Tongue: Use tongue to grab things and as a weapon (uses 1 stress for d12 damage).
Simiah Ape/monkey humanoid Nimble: +1 to Evasion; advantage on Agility Rolls that involve balancing and climbing

Critical Role shows using Daggerheart[]

External links[]

Official announcements and websites[]

Get Your Sheet Together (GYST)[]

Interviews[]

Reviews[]

Other videos[]

Credits[]

The full list credits for the Daggerheart Core Set includes:[25]

  • Lead Game Designer: Spenser Starke
  • Additional Game Designers: Carlos Cisco, Rowan Hall, John Harper, Matthew Mercer, Alex Uboldi, Mike Underwood
  • Additional Writing: Layla Adelman, Meguey Baker, Banana Chan, Chris Davidson, Rue Dickey, Felix Isaacs, Erin Roberts, Deven Rue, Rogan Shannon, Mark Thompson, Eugenio Vargas, Chris Willett
  • Developmental Editors: Laura Hirsbrunner, Amber Litke, Sadie Lowry
  • Additional Editors: Ashley Michaela “Navigator” Lawson, Scott Gray, Sebastian Yūe
  • Senior RPG Producer: Elise Rezendes
  • Junior Games Producers: Madigan Hunt, Alex Teplitz
  • Developmental Coordinator: Dani Gage
  • Production Team: Robin Ekberg, Lexi Mcqueen
  • Additional Production: Alex Uboldi
  • Art Director: Anthony Jones
  • Associate Art Director: Leesha Hannigan
  • Playtest Program Coordinator: Brieger Creative
  • Lead Graphic Design: Matt Paquette & Co.
  • Additional Graphic Design: John Harper, Vee Hendro
  • Consultants: Tom Bloom, Daniel Delgado, Rue Dickey, Marty Elmer, Hank Finnin, Rob Hebert, James Mendez Hodes, David Iezzi, Pam Punzalan, Erin Roberts, Deven Rue, Rogan Shannon, Christine Sandquist, Mark Thompson
  • Lead Concept Artist: Shaun Ellis
  • Cartographer: "Marcomaps" Bernardini
  • Core Cover: Mat Wilma
  • Limited Edition Cover: Dominik Mayer
  • Card Backs: Simon Pape
  • Artists: Nick Acuna, Juan Salvador Almencion, Mauro Alocci, Ana Amaral, Anthony Avon, Mike Azevedo, Zoe Badini, Diana Bakieva, Adam Barker, Eliot Baum, Paul Scott Canavan, Carlos Cardona, Edgar Cardona, Kristina Carroll, Stephanie Cost, Luísa Costa, Katya Cyan, Cybercatbug, Daarken, Nikki Dawes, Carlos C. Díaz, Benjamin Ee, Geoffrey Ernault, Letícia Freitas, Bear Frymire, Gaboleps, Laura Galli, Kristina Gehrmann, James Green, Grant Griffin, Arturo Gutiérrez González, Juan Gutierrez, Leesha Hannigan, Rick Hefner, Suzanne Helmigh, Hendry Iwanaga, Jessketchin, Anthony Jones, Jack Jones, Karrahe, Sam Key, Ivan Koltovich, Alex Konstad, Samantha Kung, Linda Lithén, Samantha B. Lucas, Danil Luzin, Dominik Mayer, Julia Metzger, Maxime Minard, Andrea Tentori Montalto, José Muñoz, Reiko Murakami, Laura Marie Neal, Irina Nordsol, Tamara Osborn, Mike Pape, Jen Estirdalin Pattison, Mila Pesic, Henry Peters, Rafater, Andreas Rocha, Ryan Christian Rodero, Joshua Rodriguez, Henrik Rosenburg, Ilya Royz, Allan Santos, Stanislav Sherbakov, Ernanda Souza, Fernanda Suarez, Jenny Tan, Mat Wilma, Maciej Wojtala
  • Session Zero Tools:
  • Darrington Press Team
    • Head Of Darrington Press: Ivan Van Norman
    • Creative Director: Travis Willingham
    • Senior Game Designer: Spenser Starke
    • Game Designer: Rowan Hall
    • Senior RPG Producer: Elise Rezendes
    • Senior Games Producer: Alex Uboldi
    • Retail Partnership Manager: Katie Lowther
    • Procurement Director: Ally De Simone
    • Community Manager: Alex Hill

Trivia[]

  • Keith Baker, the creator of Eberron, wrote on his blog about how to deal with death and resurrections in that campaign setting, and praised Daggerheart's approach to character death as a valuable option that could be adapted to other systems.[26]

References[]

  1. ↑ Daggerheart on the Darrington Press official website
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 See "Daggerheart First Impressions: Critical Role's New TTRPG Blends Crunch and Narrative Play in Unique Ways" by Christian Hoffer on ComicBook.com, 5 August 2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Daggerheart Date Revealed: We Will See You May 20th! on the Darrington Press official website
  4. ↑ Hall, Charlie (April 20, 2023). "Critical Role is branching out from D&D by publishing two new RPG systems". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  5. ↑ Hype: The Open Beta Playtest for Daggerheart begins on March 12! on CritRole.com
  6. ↑ Hoffer, Christian (February 28, 2024). "Critical Role Announces Daggerheart Open Beta Playtest". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Daggerheart Pre-Order Live Now!" on YouTube. See the pre-order page on Daggerheart.com.
  8. ↑ See the Fall Programming Announcement 2024 on YouTube at 2:45. Also see the official event announcement on critrole.com: Critical Role Presents: A Daggerheart Critmas Story LIVE.
  9. ↑ Beacon (hellobeacon) on Instagram: "That Was Top Secret, Matt! 😳 Now that the cat's out of the bag, here's a sneak peek of the #Daggerheart Core Book. It's filled to the brim with content, including campaign frames like Age of Umbra. Age of Umbra is a grimdark fantasy setting and the setting for our next Daggerheart mini-series. Beacon members get 10% off any Daggerheart Pre-Order! 🔮" (2025-02-12)
  10. ↑ See CRITICAL ROLE Cast Panel (The Legend Continues) – C2E2 2025 at 3:45.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Miller, Matt. "Exclusive – Diving Deep Into Critical Role's Daggerheart". Game Informer. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  12. ↑ Russell, Mollie (May 30, 2025). "Hot new DnD rival Daggerheart drops free rules for everyone to play with". Wargamer. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  13. ↑ The Void on the Darrington Press official website
  14. ↑ Hoffer, Christian (May 20, 2025). "Daggerheart Releases Two New Classes for Playtest". EN World. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  15. ↑ Russell, Mollie (June 25, 2025). "DnD rival Daggerheart to add gnomes, witches, assassins, and amnesiacs". Wargamer. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Breaking Daggerheart News From Gen Con! on the Darrington Press official website
  17. ↑ New Translations for Daggerheart Are on the Way on the Darrington Press official website
  18. ↑ 18.00 18.01 18.02 18.03 18.04 18.05 18.06 18.07 18.08 18.09 See Daggerheart Core Rulebook.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 See Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0, p. 113 (2025).
  20. ↑ See "Daggerheart Designer Interview - Critical Role's New Game Exclusive Sneak Peek!" at 0:16:01.
  21. ↑ See the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0 (2025) p. 42.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 See the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0 (2025) p. 4.
  23. ↑ See the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0 (2025) p. 27-31.
  24. ↑ Spangler, Todd (October 21, 2024). "Critical Role Sets Global Live Tour in Celebration of 10-Year Anniversary". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Daggerheart Tabletop RPG FAQs". Daggerheart. Retrieved May 28, 2025. See "Who is in the Daggerheart Core Set credits?"
  26. ↑ See Keith's blog.

Art:

  1. ↑ Daggerheart logo, by Darrington Press (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
  2. ↑ Official art of a Daggerheart promotional piece, by Nikki Dawes (source). Used with permission.
  3. ↑ Fan art of Matt's Fear, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.
  4. ↑ Official art of a Daggerheart promotional piece featuring a galapa, by Jessica Nguyen (source). Used with permission.
  5. ↑ Official art of a ribbet, by Leesha Hannigan (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
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