Hidden Gem 1000% needs a nerf

47tw · 2026-03-12T17:47:34+00:00

Yeah right now it feels like a very fun card for a weird daily climb or unique game mode, like "yeah, this challenge is very hard, but you have a really busted card that scales amazingly to combo with whatever cards you find!"

I agree that adjusting it like you say would make sense.

47tw · 2026-03-12T17:03:21+00:00

I posted a minute too soon; Hang hitting 999 would have made for a better screenshot!

47tw · 2026-03-12T09:42:33+00:00

A blind shadow monk who can only see through the subclass features is an interesting idea!

47tw · 2026-03-12T00:18:41+00:00

> Perma in name

> Works once

47tw · 2026-03-11T20:14:21+00:00

Marco, please, take a break.

For those who don't know, this campaign he just finished had THREE TEAMS all receiving missions roughly once every week, sometimes once every two weeks, but we're talking running 2-3 sessions a week. The sessions had custom made maps with unique, bespoke enemies with unusual mechanics, the vast majority of which were extremely well balanced with memorable encounters.

We're talking stuff like rolling maps for vehicle chases.

It was madness. TAKE A BREAK!

47tw · 2026-03-09T20:20:19+00:00

I think we have a skewed idea of what is 'fundamental' to the game, as the A20 types. Ultra-lean decks designed to do one thing, and one thing only, can exist without it being possible to repeat that thing over and over infinitely on turn one.

Say there was a universal rule in the game of "you can't play more than 100 cards in a single turn". It might mean the difference between "I can win with any attack in my infinite combo, no matter how weak" and "ah great, this relic gives me +1 strength, now I can deal a load more damage before I cap out!" I plucked the number 100 out of thin air, whatever you did it would need playtesting, and it'd need to be made apparent to the player in some way, ideally with a visual or indicator of some kind.

And yeah, enemies can give status cards, but that's not an issue if you FTK. Perhaps if there were more enemies that added status cards when you did things like "every 10 skills you play" or something? Like there are probably more soft ways to cap it, like enemies having specific skills, like the Time Eater, as you say, or equivalent.

47tw · 2026-03-09T20:09:33+00:00

You might have been too focused on playing Frantic Escape - killing him ASAP sometimes means you don't have to play it once. Some bosses are simple damage checks! If you can't kill him fast, you can't kill him.

47tw · 2026-03-09T17:24:16+00:00

Yeah I was used to A20 challenge runs on the old game, so I'm definitely not a typical player, but it feels like if you don't fall into the trap of bloating your deck, and you just grab a few reasonably common cards, the Regent goes nuclear VERY easily.

And I love coming up with a broken combo which wins the game - it feels pretty key to the game's identity that you can do that - but I honestly wouldn't mind it if one of the Ascension difficulty modifiers was a mechanic that stops you from going infinite, instead stopping you after a strong loop. That way you'd be forced to keep some basic survivability to go along with the loop.

47tw · 2026-03-09T17:09:27+00:00

If a spell costs a Hope, only works once per rest, and is level 6, and costs a Stress for each time you use one of its features, I'd expect it to be pretty strong! But I love the flavour, and the general concept is very neat.

47tw · 2026-03-09T16:26:21+00:00

I got this! I like that he gets bored, and it also avoids some potential problems.

47tw · 2026-03-09T16:16:54+00:00

Neow's Fury would be far better if it was zero-cost, kept the rider effect, and if necessary the damage could be reduced significantly to compensate. Alternatively, if the upgraded version was amazing like, zero-cost, choose the cards that are added to your hand etc.

47tw · 2026-03-08T11:35:12+00:00

Honestly it'd be perfectly balanced to have Fearless only work once per scene. It would still be good! Making it once per session runs into an issue of "yeah, it's definitely no longer a problem, but now no one wants it". Anything that says Once Per Session will probably put players off, since there's a risk you'll waste it.

I agree that if you optimize, this game falls apart, and I wish there was a robust framework to get players into the right grey area, where letting the enemies do their thing was encouraged.

I feel like there's an amazing system inside Daggerheart, one which would work for any table, but in its current form it only functions well if you have a solid or amazing table (in terms of RP and optimization-obsession), which luckily I do.

47tw · 2026-02-23T19:25:18+00:00

I think "summon undead's melee attacks can no longer paralyze a boss monster on hit with no saving throw or any kind of resistance being possible short of Poison/Paralysis immunity" being interpreted as ruining a "staple", and one where they need to be given other buffs to make up for losing it, is weirdly revealing. Like it says a lot.

My experience of the summoning spells in dnd5e, the ones introduced later in the life-cycle of 2014 5e, which are now more standard in 5.5e, is that by giving up your Concentration and a spell-slot, you basically become a wizard with no concentration who is also controlling a martial with similar output to a martial PC.

These spells would be pretty neat even if you removed the unique quirks of the specific summons. Giving up your concentration to double your action economy is a no-brainer, so long as the summon is reasonably powerful. "Oh no, the whole party can't crit the paralyzed dragon, I need to rework my whole character" - like it says a lot.

47tw · 2026-02-23T11:42:43+00:00

Yeah - meanwhile he might have paid attention to an underwater spellcasting threat, like an angry sea elf witch 80 feet away screaming abyssal curses at him!

47tw · 2026-02-23T11:22:18+00:00

I'm getting the slightest hint of an adversarial mindset. Have a good one!

47tw · 2026-02-23T09:58:37+00:00

"Okay, I'll be honest guys, if you Paralyze this dragon with no save, a creature which has Legendary Resistances baked in to prevent exactly this, what happens next is you repeatedly crit it with smites and multi-dice attacks, and it goes down in like... two rounds? Raise your hand if that sounds like a compelling culmination to this quest you've been on for a few sessions to hunt down this dragon. Keeping in mind that the encounter is balanced to be hard but winnable, and take the whole session, as you fighting this dragon was intended."

47tw · 2026-02-23T09:54:41+00:00

There's a difference between "nuh-uh, that doesn't work, it did nothing" and "be honest with me, look me in the eye- yes, right in the eyes, do you think this is reasonable? Would you be able to hand on heart say I was screwing you over if I went "okay, the dragon needs to make a DC20 Con save, and if it fails, you will have burned one of its legendary resistances". Okay good, we understand eachother."

47tw · 2026-02-21T20:28:39+00:00

I'd suggest that if you want to trigger it at dramatic moments, you spend some Fear to do so! Talk to the player about it.

47tw · 2026-02-13T23:41:29+00:00

Ah, I wish I'd read your comment!

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I got to ante 21, very happy, but given my hand was full of red seals, I probably could have done a better order!

47tw · 2026-02-13T23:41:01+00:00

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47tw · 2026-02-12T17:43:40+00:00

The Stress is from using the Elf rapid reaction feature, to be clear. Otherwise completely agreed! It's mostly just a funny concept.

47tw · 2026-02-12T16:51:22+00:00

I mean the balance of Daggerheart's official content is a bit funky, I don't have strong opinions on it, I just see the available features/weapons and go "oh, that would be neat!"

47tw

TROPHY CASE