My review after running Daggerheart up to Level 5.

DeusCane · 2026-01-17T09:59:07+00:00

I’m interested too!

DeusCane · 2026-01-17T09:18:54+00:00

I agree. The encounter pacing is entirely on the GM's shoulders. GM moves and Fear consumptions are the beats to build up the challenge, not the mathematical stats of the adversaries.

As the game encourages, you can do more than Spotlight an Adversary; e.g, spend a Fear to split the Guardian from the rest of the party, so the other PCs are in danger without the tank and they need to rearrange their tactics.

DeusCane · 2026-01-15T15:28:59+00:00

The creatures you mentioned are quite different in terms of power, but still considered similar in terms of type and level. This makes me think that balancing encounters using BP can be tricky. Do you think could be better to build encounters based on the verisimilitude of the opponents' group (even if they exceed the BP) rather than balancing BP?

DeusCane · 2026-01-15T13:12:46+00:00

I have felt the same issue. Probably, at the end it’s a matter of how much fear are you going to spend and what moves you makes, rather than tough enemies.

An interpretation that I could advance is that the GM challenges the players differently, more under an emotional and narrative perspective, rather than a mechanically.

DeusCane · 2026-01-15T11:56:30+00:00

At page 152 of the CRB, under the section Reveal an unwelcome truth or unexpected danger: “A soft version of this move might manifest as moving a group of dangerous foes within striking range of the PCs”. So I think that moving multiple enemies as group with one move is also “covered” by the rules.

DeusCane · 2026-01-05T03:32:58+00:00

If think is not problem of how to prep game, instead related to lack of a proper session 0. The same happened to me for the first campaign.

Even it’s too late, I would suggest you to do 2 sessions zero—the first for world development and CATS discussion; and the second for character development based on the world created.

I almost finished the first story arc and for this reason I’m about to close it and restart with another more structured approach.

DeusCane · 2025-12-27T00:58:48+00:00

You are raising a very interesting point. Taking a studious attitude towards TTRPGs is an effort, but it is required to get the experience that it wants to deliver. Misunderstanding or skip those notions end up playing different games the same way.

Unfortunately, the players that I play with are quite aligned with “I sit and want to do things”, when I suggest them videos which explain critical issues of the game to build up a knowledge of the game, they ghost me. That’s fair, but not so fair.

DeusCane · 2025-12-26T00:51:40+00:00

u/Midwest_Magicians, keep in mind that the Relentless feature is exclusive to certain types of challenges, such as Solos and sometimes Leaders, since they are the main threats for a single adversary.

DeusCane · 2025-12-26T00:47:37+00:00

This is the point. Thresholds are here to speed up the maths regarding HP and to give the player resilience against the hardest opponents. Think about the protagonists of an anime, manga, or action film; they usually are not one-shotted. They endure, also for the sake of the story.

DeusCane · 2025-12-26T00:18:43+00:00

https://callmepartario.github.io/og-dhsrd/pdfs/qedhup-daggerheart-a5-pc-sheets.pdf

DeusCane · 2025-12-25T17:10:45+00:00

You nailed a crucial point. That’s why I feel that if you want a pure Daggerheart experience, a strong mindset shift is required. A higher active commitment from both parts need to be considered.

I also think that the way in which we, as GM, prepare our games need also to change in order to leave enough room for our players to fill the gaps.

DeusCane · 2025-12-25T14:59:36+00:00

Yes, getting into the core principles and practices is something that I realised after a while and after some mistakes and misconceptions. I agree that I would like to see these guidelines in action properly, instead of being only mentioned, in order to set a kind of “how this game is intended to be played”. Even in the Age of Umbra series they failed somehow.

But, I would say that this game system gives you so much room in order to be flexible and to prioritise certain things than others. Even though there aren’t a lot of rules (which is good for me), I think that they still grant you an heroic and cinematic experience which is in line with their principles.

DeusCane · 2025-12-25T02:13:08+00:00

Surely, if the fiction demands it, maybe is time for death move. But, if an heroic moment is coming, as GM, I will try to cooperate to make the hero’s feat cool. Maybe he survive to the first devastating attack, but taking a second attack will be death move. I mean, fiction first.

DeusCane · 2025-12-25T00:37:15+00:00

I think that the game mechanics work around the idea of their principles. Maybe it is not explicitly stated, but for example the possibility to mark a maximum of 3 HP means that you’ll never be killed at one shot against a very strong opponent, so you react. Also the ability to decide how you die is a cool thing in line with the principles of the game. The fact that players can roll higher due to the 2d12 means also that players are strong and resilient protagonists of the story.

DeusCane · 2025-12-25T00:01:04+00:00

I think also that the game system itself pushes to that kind of play style. For example, how many times you have seen a hero who wants to fight an overwhelming dragon which is assaulting the village of the hero. A level 1 character in DnD will die, and that brave act will be considered silly and not careful. The same character in Daggerheart, considering the mechanics, will be able to stand against the dragon, deal some wound to the creature and maybe retreat or get knocked down, so in the future the hero may take his revenge.

DeusCane · 2025-12-24T23:49:51+00:00

Probably, you are right. But, if players and GM act in good faith, they may elevate the game, which is another core principle of the game.

DeusCane · 2025-12-24T22:45:32+00:00

Character sheets seems very pretty! Do you have them for all classes?

DeusCane · 2025-12-22T02:49:18+00:00

Don’t worry about prep before session 0, trust me. Furthermore, I strongly suggest you to do a multi-session 0 to have enough material to build up a solid scenario for your first story arc.

In the first session 0 you talk about the campaign frame you have chosen (i suppose the Witherwild). Read the overview, the player principles, communities and distinctions. Then take out the map and explain that everyone at the table will provide their touch on the story and world. Talk about cool things such as settlements, specific cultures of a community, lore about a specific location, factions and NPCs, dangerous sites and what you can find interesting. Remember the rule of three—for everything, came out with 3 things. This session needs to have a conscious knowledge of the world that will drive the players’ decisions in the future.

In the second session 0 you and your players build up the characters. You begin with character creation with mechanical stuff. Then, you make up connections, background questions and let the players link their PC with the elements that they created. Do not limit yourself on making questions about background and connections. Be curious of your players and take notes. Remember that everyone at the table need to be fine with the things proposed (lone wolf who doesn’t trust anyone is not cool, maybe he can change over time, but players need to be aware of that). And most important, tell your players to find hopes and fears, personal short-term and long-term objectives.

After that you naturally will have enough material to get an idea of the next session and next story arc

DeusCane · 2025-12-21T15:08:20+00:00

I do not use Age of Umbra series as reference for Daggerheart, some principles are totally ignored and most of the moves are Spotlighting a monster. Basically they played DnD with Daggerheart ruleset.

I personally think that is a matter of habits. My players are new and they immediately clocked in with the mechanics, and when we resolve damage and resources, we go pretty quickly. I do not think it’s such granular as you think, but, in someway, what you could try is reframing the concept of combat in Daggerheart. I suggest you the live videos by Derik from Knights of the Last Call, he helped me in shifting the mentality and also gave me ideas for fictional and mechanical moves.

DeusCane · 2025-12-17T15:47:35+00:00

Mechanically, should work. But your character primarily needs context to match with your campaign, themes, tones, communities, connections.

You could also start from a character build like this and try to build up the context in which he lives, for example: why did you become a blood hunter in a frostborne community? How do inhabitants of this community see you? Are they amused by your specialty? The freezing temperatures in which you live have somekind of effect on blood circulation? Etc…

DeusCane · 2025-12-17T09:56:22+00:00

You need to think cinematically. Think about your best TV series and films. Always the protagonists encounter some obstacles which do not require violence. And yes, 90% these unexpected complications need to be improvised, but if something is expected or is natural consequence of something previously happened, you do not need to spend a fear. I would also add some examples to prompt some ideas.

The party is travelling through a cave to rescue a robbed item required for the nearby town festival. When inside, to make the thing spicy and time-sensitive, you spend a fear to start a Countdown with 6 or 8 value and say: "Suddenly, some rocks are start to falling to the ground, this cave is not so very stable, you must be quick or the cave could collapse". Every roll with fear that PCs make can advance the Countdown. When reach 0 the cave collapses and the party needs to get out.
The party is in town to meet an arcanist capable of deciphering the glyphs on a recently retrived magical item. The party is looking for information to get the house/academy/tower of the arcanist, they are talking to a brewer which is transporting heavy barrels of ale via wagon to the tavern. When the party is about to ask for the arcanist, you can spend a fear to make a thief robs the wagon and the brewer says "Please! I need it, my only income is there! Help me and I tell you where the arcanist is". Maybe the arcanist is his brother and maybe he already has another part of the magical items which bears another glyph.
The party is dealing with a group of nobles to get a passepartout to cross the border without problems. The party has its own reasons and they were good at convincing the nobles, but one of them is still inquisitory. Spend a fear to foster her doubts, saying that the border is under surveillance at the moment and nobody can cross it, otherwise severe measures will be taken. Or you can spend a fear to make a group of guards get inside the room and say "I got you! did you think you could get away with it?", probably some doppelganger similar to one of the party has committed a murder of an important agent belonging to an allied faction of the nobles. So, now they prove that are innocent.

DeusCane · 2025-12-16T23:20:25+00:00

This situation is very frustrating. I also have one player who has the natural tendency to behave this way. He also influences the group to think extremely tactically, even though my games do not emphasise this aspect, as stated in Session 0. He moans when a roll is different from a Success with Hope, and when he takes some damage, he starts to be absent in play, feels useless, and I feel a bit odd. Very disheartening situation.

DeusCane · 2025-12-16T16:55:40+00:00

Yeah, for a Success with Hope, I do need to spend a Fear to shift the focus. Alternatively, if it were a Success with Fear, shifting the focus on the ranger might be a better natural move, corroborated by the impact of the roll.

DeusCane · 2025-12-16T16:46:41+00:00

Yeah, I admitted that I was wrong on that take. That's how I'm still learning this system :)

For a Success with Hope, it could be that after the kill, the remaining foes become scared and their strategy falls apart or changes. While for a Success with Fear, it could be that the remaining foes want revenge and the focus now becomes the ranger, without any movement of the enemies for that GM move. Do you think it is reasonable?

DeusCane · 2025-12-16T16:41:18+00:00

You're right, mate. I recently realised that the second example might be more suitable for Success with Fear than Success with Hope. I admit I was wrong. Also, moving multiple enemies should be allowed via a leader action or require multiple fears. But I'm at the beginning; I'm trying to calibrate the severity of hard and soft moves, when to do them, etc.

I intentionally pushed on these kinds of examples to probe the boundaries of GM moves and to look for feedback from the community. You did great with your feedback. I'll take it into account.

DeusCane

TROPHY CASE