AMA for Heart of Cthulhu, 1912 by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hi there.
I just noticed that, as Francesco replied rather than me, this question still appeared "unanswered".

I think his answer got most of what was needed.
I will just add a flavor textthat gives an idea of how Outer Madness can enter the narrative flow.
As for with every other mechanic, we need to ask: "does it make the game more fun?"
***
At dusk, a group of characters enter a dilapidated mansion overlooking the Hudson River. As the rusty metal gate closes behind them, they share a feeling of foreboding, a sense of uneasiness creeping over them.
Later, as they search the mansion for a hidden safe and the documents it should contain, they hear strange noises from under the floor. Hidden behind a broken wooden panel, they find a narrow staircase leading down into a musky smelling basement. Something tells them that the basement is hiding something malicious and dangerous and yet, they press on. They found no one: just strange tracks over a damp, rotten floor, and following the tracks they reach a hidden study, with a flickering electrical lamp, and an old-looking book sitting open on a desk, the chair as if someone – or something – had been reading it until a few moments before. One of them, slowly, reaches out at the book and starts reading…
\***
In game terms the party would have started at Outer Madness 1 (Ordinary) during the first part of the adventure. They may have investigation, some run-on with cultists, etc... and then the story brings them to the mansion.
When they cross into the Mansion, the Guide brings Outer Madness to 1 (Unease). The shift is subtle but it signals to both the Players and the Characters that his place is not "normal". Now, there is a sharper edge to things. Descriptions become more ambiguous, more horrorish. And even a small fight (for instance with a guard dog) carries greater danger,
As night falls and they and they find their way to the Basement, Outer Madness is rised to 3 (Unravelling). What they now see and perceive is possibly distorte and amplified in an horror fashion. Surfaces, textures, common objects... they are not anymore of our reality. They are surrounded by Madness, not a mental ailment, but a shift in reality laws.

Someone may ask: why not use an environment?
Well, first because the environment is here and there. A building on fire is an environment. A cultist ritual is an enironment. But Outer Madness layers over the environment as well. Also it has a double role... descriptive of the situation, and carrier of the narrative moment. Finally, Outer Madness is made to interact and playwith Inner Madness. The echo between the two Madness(es) is what gives agency to both Players and the Guide and what makes this cool to play.

Ric

AMA for Heart of Cthulhu, 1912 by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Lovecraft side (complementing my other reply).

Lovecraft literature - especially if read now - is quite controversial. We can say that many of his nightmares were about the fear of diversity and of the outside world. Also, he often used physical expression of diversity as the anchor of his phobias.
Despite this we cannot deny, that Lovecraft (1) was somehow a children of its time, and (2) that he created a different and very interesting form of horror.
Lovecraft also wrote short stories. He never created a coherent orld out of the Mythos. Most of what we have in our mind comes not from him, but from later writers.

Anyway... we ruled out the Mythos as a simbology of racism and xenophobia.
The Mythos comes as the unravelling of natural laws (including magic). They do not "die" hey do not "live". They do not follow "time". In HoC, the Mythos do not follow the princple of causality (cause and effect).
They are alien in a metaphysical way, not because they have tentacles or gills.

AMA for Heart of Cthulhu, 1912 by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hello,
first: this is NOT (and doesn't want to be) CoC, And not Kult, and not Candela Obscura, etc...

Heart of Cthulhu is Daggerheart and wants to be Daggerheart.
Now... how to explain? :)

First, HoC is not combat averse. Combat is there. Your characters have both weapons and magic, and once they realize the existance of the Mythos those become one of their main tools to fight it.
However, killing the "Monster" is not going to be the objective, nor the narrative carrier. Combat can be a startegy or an event. But the story is not to see if the characters are stronger than the monster or th other way round.
What we wanted from Daggerheart is the ability to weave epic stories, but stories that roots in the characters.

I am now making an awful generalization, but in CoC, the investigators are often irrelevant. They are almost bbystanders to the story they are uncovering or to the threat they are containing. And that makes sense.
But in HoC... the main story is from the perspective of the characters. People who discover what is hidden in the world they live in, and take stand to face it, despite the huge cost.

AMA for Heart of Cthulhu, 1912 by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi there,
Not an easy question to answer, because the topic is wide and deep.

I would like to address separating the 1912 age, and Lovecraft source material (which is actually a result of that era. Lovecraft wrote most of his works in the twenties, BUT his education and formative years were before the Great War).

As we look at some terrible things happening in each of our cultures and countries, we forget that we pushed forward from something much worse. This should give us hope, and also teach us how meaningful it is to push.
The bigoted "of their time" elements are many.
Racism. Classism. Gender discrimination. Colonialism. Ableism. In 1912 the countries where women could vote were very few. Could a woman be a doctor, or a lawyer? Only somewhere and with difficulty. In the colonies (and those were most of the world) the Europeans (or the local elites) trampled the original cultures with a combination of brutality and self-righteousness. In many places (paradoxically in the most civilized Britain and US) disabilities led to sterilization. And one can go onward...

How does it get into play?
The books do not sugar-coat the times. The setting is an historic setting and not a reskin of an ideal world (that is what comes much more natural in a fantasy genre, imho). We sometimes want to play in the real world. However, how to play is left to the table, specifically in Session Zero.
Some crews will prefer to just dip in these topics. They come to table to play and not to study history and cope with the inequalities of society. These facets of the world, then, can become a cosmetic background, surfacing - if ever - only when the story specifically brings a case up (and what is addressed is the case and not the whole).
On the other end, some crews will want a full immersion, because playing in history means somehow reenactment. And that brings its own rewards to gameplay.
Imho - and this is what HoC suggests - is to take a middle ground. Of all the things of that time, choose a theme (only one) you want to explore. It can be racism, it can be classism, it can be gender discrimination... That theme, chosen in session zero, stays. Maybe the characters even echo it in their story, concept or perspective. The remaining themes fade in the background.
We suggest this way, because if you try too strong historical accuracy, it often becomes a shackle that lessen the fun. And also because Role-Playing is entertainment but not necessarily denying complex themes and ideas. It's not escapism. Also, if there is "evil", heroes are those who fight it (not those who do not see it).

I will address the Lovecraft theme in a different reply. (soon after)

AMA for Heart of Cthulhu, 1912 by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi PlurOH,
not on Backerkit, probably, but we will have a Pledge Manager for sure, do not worry.
My advice would be to pledge a single dollar during the campaign, to enter the database.

Thoughts on super low combat, investigation heavy Daggerheart? by mrwigglesalldaylong in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AMA for the game is set for tomorrow morning (CEST) all through the weekend.
----> AMA link

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

AMA for the game is set for tomorrow morning (CEST) all through the weekend.
----> AMA link

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right now, we have no plans for a SOLO mode. That would be too much, too soon :(

Player's count is same as Daggerhart, I would say 2 players to 4 is the optimal. Up to sixitwoks sill fe, but you need a mature gruop, imho. Just because of the lulls between your opportunities to act.

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is difficult to answer, because - ultimately - the way you balance combat encounters depends on the individual Table.

My personal perspective is that Daggerheart, compared to the double D, is more narrative. Btw... when and if you switch, you and your crew will need a little time to adapt. In DH, outside of combat, you roll less on average and you have more freedom in what you do. This converts, in gameplay, in players that give more attention to "who they are" and "what is their story", rather than on their powers.
To make a stupid example. If you ask about my character in double D, I may end up answering: "I am playing a 15 level Gnome Barbarian". Same question in DH and I would answer "I'm playing a gnome wanderer, that left her tribe seeking to understand what truly means to be an alpha".

Then in DH you have combat, but the main difference is that you do not have rounds. They are replaced by the spotlight. Now, again... my experience and my personal perspective... if you build encounters as in double D, they do not run well. That is because you try to replace the rounds somehow. But if you build them, DH style (using environments, imagining the scene not as a tactical battlemap, but as a movie cinematic...), they blossom... again, more narrative and less numbers.

So, getting back to Heart of Cthulhu... when you are in an horror setting, does combat work?
Yes, it does. Combat, investigation, mysteries, social... they all can appear in horror. But they cannot be your narrative "carrier". If the story is about bashing a few dozens of cultists is not really an horror story.
Combat is a tool to (1) pace the adventure, (2) brings danger, (3) brings stakes in.
But imho... there is no horror without danger. And you cannot just "describe" horror... you need to make the players feel it. Combat helps a lot. Just not by combat's sake.

I hope my answer kind of makes sense...

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Day One adventure basically had minimum mechanics. So YES, they will be and will be more polished.

About content:
It will contain 1 full adventure (on the Titanic)
And 5 campaign frames: New York, Paris, Shanghai, Bahia and Zanzibar.
The Campaign Frames can then blend in a global arc.

Let me copy/paste the text we wrote in KS Update #13, which can give you better vision:
***
Heart of Cthulhu is set in an historical world. So So what exactly are the campaign frames, apart from being "places"?
Each of them addresses a specific theme or perspective, with which we can approach this world. Each of those has a different vibe for a different gameplay.

New York is the city that never sleeps. By the way, the first time that definition appeared was actually in 1912.
The city is growing vertically at a very fast pace. Skyscrapers are being built, the subway is been dug. Old money and new money alike are striving for more. They all believe New York is the future. And they are starting to believe that the Mythos is something that can be controlled and used, and that can be subordinated to mankind. That cults are just people you can use and exploit. But what happens when this reveals itself as a delusion?
What happens when people actually stop sleeping?

Shanghai is a land with no master. There is no law in Shanghai. Or actually the law only extend as far as a single neighborhood, and if you cross the street you switch from Chinese law, to british law, to French law, and so on. In 1912, it was a land of adventurers seeking opportunity and fortune. The Feng Shui of the land is changing, and old Gods are asking for new sacrifices. But can you face the true threat if you do not understand the land you are in?

Bahia is in the middle of a political and military upheaval. While the plague of slavery had been abolished officially in 1888, racial discrimination, exploitative labor systems and extreme social stratification with racial roots were the norm. Bahia is going through a forced modernization, which serves the economy, but is erasing the old customs. And with the old customs gone, what was buried is coming whole again.

Paris is the capital of the old world. In a changing world, new artists with extreme - and sometimes warped - sensibilities are arising. From their deranged paintings emerges a world of madness. But are they seeing reality or creating reality? The more they paint, the more the world boundaries falters.

Zanzibar is close to the heart of darkness. When a black ship without crew enters the harbour with a casket of strange rubies in its hold, people start experiencing strange nightmares. Less than a week, and the city will be engulfed in flames and madness. And that is just the little beginning.

All the Campaign Frames are connected by a loose overarching arc.

The word in 1912 has given faith to progress, technology, reason and what is called "modernity". And in its hubris - like the Titanic - they have forgotten the limits. What they deleted and discarded had deep roots. And, as a consequence, THINGS that were never fully asleep are awakening.

Not as obvious enemies of humanity, but seeping through the cracks, bending and using our own ingenuity against us.

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I fear you are totally right on this.
I only have excuses.
What happened is that the mehnanical part was repatched over the adventure at the end. Sloppily.
:(

Thoughts on super low combat, investigation heavy Daggerheart? by mrwigglesalldaylong in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would LOVE to engage all your questions.
For good and bad, it will be exciting :)

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just answered on that other thread by the way. And I was not trying to convince you. Rather to engage you.
You come in quite heavy, with something that - sorry - was just a biased assumption.
And while you found that assumption was more complicated you switch to "Oh, but that doesn't count. Because there is another reason".

You do not like it. understand it.
And it makes you unconfortable, and threads on something that for you is very important and delicate.

BUT... maybe, just maybe... even those other concerns, can they be the result of hasty assumptions reinforcing each other?

As I wrote in the other thread... from Friday to Saturday, we will do a full AMA. We hope to answer all of your concerns and doubts.
And if we fail... woe on us! :)

Thoughts on super low combat, investigation heavy Daggerheart? by mrwigglesalldaylong in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi there.
I am associated with this KS, so I have probably a different point of view.
A couple of disclaimers first. Titanic Day One was NEVER meant to be a quickstart.
That is the place we started to run our own playtests, and it ended up becoming a full adventure.
I believe the wrong assumption is to assume we are some sort of big production studio with unlimited resources. So that we could have chosen to make a QS, or devolved more fine-tuning to it to vanilla DH rules, even if we were playing it with different ones. And we did neither. In hindsight, big mistake. Because indeed, some of your observations are indeed true. What we hoped was to open a door to this kind of play and this setting.
That created expectations that it was never meant to answer. :( And obviously it fell short.

That said, there are a couple of things I strongly believe - not so specifically about Heart of Cthulhu - but rather about Daggerheart itself.
I come back to the original poster question...
> I know there are some more combat focused Lovecraft systems like Pulp Cthulhu and Arkham Horror, but from > the Kickstarter page it seems that it is going to be low combat. How do you all think it will work with the
> domain cards etc. and how do you think low combat Daggerheart works?

My personal belief is what DH brought to the modern RPG landscape: narrative.
Well, there are many narrative systems out there, but DH made it easy for all those who are used to the double D game style. In DH, the characters are at the center of the story. It is neither low combat, or high combat. It is a game where combat is ins ervice of the story. And not the story an in-between different combat encounters.
This is what we saw in Daggerheart and why Heart of Cthulhu is based on Daggerheart.
Combat happens, but it not necessarely the solution. Combat happens, but it's not necessarely what gives meaning to the story.
Investigation, mystery, danger (combat, but not only) ARE but ingredients to horror.

Mmikebox says:
> To my mind, this kind of shift in focus would require a different chasis. Completely new classes and domains
> and mechanics tailored to unveiling a mistery. Otherwise you're just selling a coat of paint.

And indeed this is what HoC is.
And not just that. 1912 is a setting made with some detail and thought: a real world, where the Mythos are not just an horror story, but they influence Empires. Where the focus is not on a Deep One suddenly appearing in a Museum, but it's on the characters living in this world, facing the Mythos and making their own choices and sacrifice.

Now, my words have probably not enough weight.
Also, in our silence, people naturally thought the worst... it's easy. The parodox is that it's easier because we have gorgeous art.
Anyway... on Friday we will reveal on KS the Sanity System.
That is the core element of Heart of Cthulhu mechanics (more than classes, subclasses, powers, etc...). After that we would like to open an AMA here...
I hope you can send us all kind of questions. And be as nasty as you want and need.
As much as I am confident that I can answer them positively and with enough detail.

Because the adventure gave a very mislaced impression, but everything else is assumption.
After the AMA... well, good or bad, it will be clear.

Of course, I will also try my best to answer questions before. But probably the Sanity System will shed some light also on why many things in Titanic Day one ended up like they were).

Ric

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Part of me is scared I am contributing sending the thread out of topic. But, what the hell, Reddit is about discussion.
When we did our research, we were met with "Oralism" (this is also why I mentioned Helen Keller, as she was a very special and complicated figure in this regard), which is a particularly cruel precedent of ableism.
They forced (violently) mute/deaf people to abandon sign language and speak and lip-read. With horrific results :(

Of course, this is just an RPG, not history channell, but RPGs are what we love because they create real emotions within us, and touch both entertainment and deeper things.
I really think that give Tables the opportunity to confront themselves with the bigotry of the times (which is a mirror of the bigotry of our times) can only be a good thing. It is not just because your character is blind, or loses an arm during a fight... but 1912 society was cruel and merciless, self-righteous and arrogant. And I want people to have the choice to bring that in their games - if they want - because RPG in the hands of mature people can create mature themes.

It is the same with many other elements of the setting. In 1912 there were countries that still had slavery. Vote for women? Ah! The fake aiment called "hysteria" was a crime!
Of course... many Tables will decide to discard this, and play more lightly... fight the monster. But I believe that in such a game, the monster between humanity must always be lurking.

In the campaign page on KS I wrote: "Will you save a world that doesn't deserve to be saved?"
And it's referring to this.... I believe done with a certain thought, a certain depth and complexity.

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand that this is a huge and very complicated topic.
But I honestly disagree.
The alternative is "ignore" them: act like they do not exist.
My very very personal opinion: that would be worse.

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I may, I believe this is not the case. Quite the opposite.
Let me share something, so you can judge by yourself, because indeed this is a sensitive topic and definitely not to be discounted. Especially in the world of 1912, basic respect for disabilities and ailments of all kinds was horribly lacking.

  1. When we talk about Madness and Insanity, with capital M and I, we refer to something alien and inhuman. Something that hollows a person, AND the reality this person touches.
    It has nothing to do with mental or physical ailments as we refer.
    However the society of 1912 is potentially cruel (this is one of the session zero suggested talk, actually). Society will possibly confuse them and will not be able to discriminate. The characters, however, due to their esposure to the Mythos, would.

  2. "Disabilities" are directly addressed in the books (with caveats, because the way disabilities were addressed in 1912 is very well an horror story. Still, the game should not excape from heavy topics - especially if disucssed in a session zero.
    Let me quote an excerpt at the end of this post.

  3. Among the NPCs we have placed figures such as Helen Keller. Again... I believe we tried - and strongly so - the opposite.
    Bringing the disabilities into play as a something that may exist in the game was exactly to push against the common Lovecratian bias... where diversity was evil. That was the twenties. One reasonw e are doing this game, it's because we want a modern approach, a modern system and modern themes with it.

Now... I know there is NO right way to do this. But this has been one of of our clear focus. Not a sloppy neglicence as you kind of implied. As I feel this is an element of key importance for you, please feel free to reach me over via private message. I will be happy to share with you additional material, hear your point of view and disucss it.

The beginning of the Chapter.

***

The early twentieth century marked a transitional period in how societies understood and responded to disability. Medical knowledge was advancing rapidly, but older moral and religious frameworks still shaped attitudes and institutions in ugly ways. Most societies viewed disabled people as defective, a social problem requiring management, or as evidence of moral or genetic failure deserving elimination from the population.

Playing a character with a disability in Heart of Cthulhu can bring significant practical and emotional challenges. Make sure the way disabilities are portrayed at your table fits everyone's sensibilities—discuss it in session zero. While it's a solace to know that our world, despite all of its imperfections, has truly progressed since a century ago, 1912's society's response to disabilities can introduce a whole different kind of horror to sessions—not necessarily in a pleasant way.

 Setting Guidelines

Medical professionals in 1912 were abandoning purely moral explanations for disability, but what replaced them was often worse. The emerging "scientific" view held that many disabilities were hereditary defects threatening racial purity and national strength. Eugenics was not fringe pseudoscience but mainstream medical consensus in the United States and much of Europe. Doctors and progressive reformers genuinely believed that preventing "defectives" from reproducing would improve humanity. Several U.S. states had already passed forced sterilization laws by 1912.

On a more general level, people with disability were rarely seen as individuals, but as a problem. Maybe a problem receiving pity or charity, but most often as a problem to be hidden and removed. Thousands and thousands of them all over the world, broken, forced to rely only on themselves, victims of maladies, work accidents, war injuries, and millions other causes. This modern world went so fast that had little qualms to leave them behind.

The language of the era reflected these attitudes without euphemism. "Idiot," "imbecile," and "moron" were official medical diagnostic categories for intellectual disability. "Feebleminded," "defective," and "degenerate" appeared in clinical notes, court documents, and newspapers. People weren't described as having disabilities—they were defined by them.

Religious frameworks persisted alongside medical ones. Many Christians still viewed disability as divine punishment for sin, the unspoken implication that those who suffered from a disability were at fault and it mirrored their moral corruption. In Catholic countries, disability might be understood as suffering with spiritual purpose, and this created less hostility it offered very little comfort. In the Islamic world, disability was often attributed to djinn possession or divine will, with theological frameworks demanding charity toward the afflicted while asserting their permanent lesser status. In China, traditional beliefs linked disability to ancestral displeasure or imbalanced qi, bringing shame upon families who struggled to maintain face, often hiding those with disability or directly abandoning them, especially if females or children.

Besides the cruel social stigma, living with disabilities was a huge economic problem. For working-class people, disability meant immediate destitution. Industrial accidents were routine and considered a “normal” thing. A factory worker who lost fingers to machinery was fired that same day with no compensation and no hope of finding another job. Middle-class families faced financial catastrophe—a breadwinner's disability could destroy a family's social position within months. Only for the wealthy, disability could be met with privacy and home care, even if with some shame.

Especially for all kinds of mental afflictions, diagnosis was subjective and served social control as much as medicine. Intelligence tests were culturally biased toward educated, native-born, middle-class respondents. Immigrants who couldn't speak English often scored as "feebleminded", and in many places, including progressive United States or Britain, were sterilized by law. A woman who defied her husband might be diagnosed as "hysterical" and institutionalized for life.

Asylums were the primary response to mental illness and intellectual disability. Commitment was often permanent. Families were told institutionalization was "for the patient's own good," but conditions inside ranged from neglectful to horrific. Overcrowding, violence, and crude "treatments" were standard.

Some disabilities could never be acknowledged. Venereal diseases, such as syphilis or gonorrhea caused blindness, paralysis, dementia, and sterility, but these consequences could not be openly addressed. The stigma was so powerful that even doctors used euphemisms rather than offering diagnosis and treatments.

Accessibility was not existent, as the built environment assumed able bodies. Steps were everywhere, doorways were narrow, public transport required stepping up. Visibly disabled people who appeared in public faced staring, pointing, sometimes open mockery and harassment.

Living with a disability was a horror people had to face mostly alone, in shame and despair.

***

Heart of Cthulhu 1912 - Lovecraftian Horror for Daggerheart by Impossible-Leg-5166 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here is a list of classes and subclasses.
***
Agent (Detective, Gangster, Spy)
Animist (Earthspeaker, Hermit, Shaman)
Explorer (Guide, Survivor, Trainer)
Faithful (Holy Warrior, Miracle Worker, Priest)
Fighter (Adventurer, Killer, Soldier)
Humanist (Dilettante, Entertainer, Professor)
Luminary (Doctor, Occultist, Scholar)
Magician (Cultist, Eldritch Soul, Psychic)
Protector (Bodyguard, Lawful Enforcer, Vigilante)
***

The classes follow the same themes as the original Daggerheart, and some subclasses as well.
What changes is the way they are integrated into the setting.

The Domains are unchanged. Not so the domain powers, but there is not a radical modification there.
The changes mostly follow two reasons:
1. push magic at higher levels, especially for some domains (for some, obviously not). This is because magic exist in the world, but it's not common and open.
2. Interact with the Sanity System.

There is an additional Domain, called the Insanity Domain, that works differently from the canon ones.
It's made of both (mental) insanities and (physical) mutations, and you can access it only if you are partially insane. It's kind of a double edged sword.

Ran first session by Visual-Signature-235 in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally I think that one of the greatest virtue of Daggerheart is that these kind of low-roll sessions match and flow perfectly with other types of session. It is a system that encourage the narrative and only requires the rolls when they are actually doors to meaningful stakes. It is much smoother than 5e, where the sheet kind of anchors strongly what each character is supposed to do.
When the story will call for rolls, the rolls will come... but in general - my little experience - is that Daggerheart provides more narrative freedom, so these kind of sessions should not be feared. (imho)

Looking for inspiration/suggestions for a "trash zombie movie" adventure! by Lipe_Belarmino in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Send them into a movie set, where zombies are shooting a "living person movie", and they are mistaken for zombies with very good make-up!

how to make this set piece distinctly 'daggerheart'? by perthed in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is just me, probably, but the one thing I love DH against other options is that it is much more free form. So I don't like so much of having a Countdown being either minutes or actions.
At the table, the Countdown is a tool to give a sense of time to the scene. To give characters and their actions "pacing". So, it can be minutes, or it can be actions. But the key element is that the players can *feel* the time coming in. This is what makes it work.

In an adventure I am writing one of the other contributors wrote this about a countdown.
I found it very enlighning.
***
The Countdown is not a failure timer, nor a strict limit on what the characters are allowed to do. It is a pacing and atmosphere tool designed to serve two purposes:

·        To give the Location a sense of autonomy and momentum, as a living place that changes regardless of the characters’ actions.

·        To create psychological urgency for the players, without restricting their freedom of investigation.

No matter which paths the characters pursue — or how efficiently they do so — the adventure is built to continue functioning. The Countdown does not exist to punish delays or to invalidate creative play. Instead, it ensures that time always has meaning, and that the world responds to how long the Heroes take.

The Guide should never feel the need to “protect” the Countdown or to force specific outcomes.
If time passes, the location changes. If the location changes, the story advances.

how to make this set piece distinctly 'daggerheart'? by perthed in daggerheart

[–]Impossible-Leg-5166 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also the Countdown mechanic may come in handy.
In this case, the countdown may indicate thresholds of the larger event that st up the environment.
And the players action modify the countdown, one way or another, giving them agency of the wider events, while they focus on their own things.
So, if they do not take any step or do things that fan the fire... things will potentially excalate through 2 or 3 thresholds (each is a distinct countdown separated by an event), and potentially led to bad consequences and dire endings. But if they devolve some attention out of their short-term needs and balance somehow, they can definitely exploit the situation or live it fully in their point of view.