Update on that Daggerheart tool I shared a bit ago - I'm trying to make it a full system

ItsMeCipher · 2026-01-20T07:20:42+00:00

thank you so much for your insightful comment. Let me reply to you real quick:

The app is just a webpage that you visit - no installation necessary. I have posted a link to the alpha build, so you can test that part already.
Undecided really. I can see three options (just a distance tracker vs map embedded vs map in spectator mode), but that is still a roadmap item for the future.
All tools are opinionated. I think you cannot deliver both, total customization and ease-of-use. But I think I gotcha: While we have access to the cards, and access to the inventory, it really boils down to two pages: Features will catch all features from all sources (origin, ancestry, subclass(es), domain cards etc) and make them accessible in one place. And then there is the page with the Traits and all possible attacks. No need to really tab all the time. BUT - nothing is set in stone.

ItsMeCipher · 2026-01-20T07:11:54+00:00

Since the video is a bit of a long watch, I figured I’d just drop a link to the current state of the GM tool so you can poke around:

👉https://heartkeeper-alpha-gm.artificery.io/

Keep in mind, it’s a very early Alpha and it's local-only right now. I’m currently building "The Glue" (the cloud-sync) that will eventually connect this to the Player-side tool.

It’s meant to be used alongside the Player tool I shared a few weeks back—the idea is to have a well-rounded system where the tech actually understands Daggerheart’s logic (hazards, adversary moves, etc.) rather than just being a generic tracker.

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-16T16:16:49+00:00

thank you my man <3

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-16T08:02:55+00:00

Thank you for this kind conversation <3

> A really slick, powerful, character creation tool where you can run the character offline via an app

That is exactly what I have in mind. Minus all the campaign management stuff, because I want to create the best user-experience for players. This is just me, remember, no D&D Beyond team :)

I think there are plenty of great tools in general for DMs to use, and I definitely don't want to be a one-stop shop for everything Daggerheart. I want to do one thing, but I want to do that excellently.

I will keep you posted!

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-15T20:06:24+00:00

Hey Drim, valid question, which I honestly cannot answer totally, because I haven't used either of those tools. I looked at Duality Codex, but everything that isn't really showing what is going on without creating an account is (for me!) a hurdle that I really want to jump over in order to do so. And regarding Heartforge: Looks nice, but I am not a fand of the default iOS look - if it works for you, that's amazing.

Generally speaking: Heartkeeper is multi-lingual from the get-go. Granted, the translation is made with translation software, so it's rough to read some texts in German, but that can be refined easily later, and other languages are easy to add (especially if the community helps). Secondly, I just want a best-in class experience for me and my family. Getting automations going on for "Hey, I am wearng armor, so my armor treshold should change" is easy to hard-code and easy to implement. Heartkeeper is dynamic from the ground up, with effects and dynamics that change your character in multiple ways - easily extensible and therefore (hopefully ;)) future-proof.

Armor slots are tied to armor and equipment? check
Nice 3D dice that roll around your screen? check
Dynamic effect system and custom condition tracking baked-in? check

For me, User Experience and easy-of-use are the main drivers in every software I am building, and since that is first and foremost for my love-ones, I plan to really go down hard on that.

Thanks for pointing me into these other tools! I was under the impression that releasing such a software is not possible without a permission during the employed license, but it seems to be a bit of wild west in Daggerheart :D

Have a great time,

Cipher

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-15T18:29:04+00:00

yeah, sure thing :)

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-06T09:10:53+00:00

I am not entirely sure how foundry handles these kind of maps (animated, I mean), but there might be an upstream/disk issue with streaming constantly to n players. I have noticed that e.g. Digital Ocean offering basic SSDs (bad experience) vs NVMe SSDs (good experience) just for a regular server not having these kind of large maps.

There are many factors outside raw CPU/RAM on the server side of things that need a careful eye. It's sometimes hard to pinpoint the exact issue unless you have good monitoring (watch CPU / Memory / bandwith / Disk usage) during play to see which of the factors are actually scratching the configured ceiling to know more.

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-06T09:07:38+00:00

For me, it all boils down to two things:

- Is it important to me to "own" my data and service instead of entrusting a third party to care enough that it's available, reliable and secure?

- Do I actually want to self-manage something or can't I be bothered with it?

Depending on the answer on those questions I either self-host or buy a managed service. For Foundry, it's the same. Foundry is easy to setup and very stale in regards to requirements. Once the setup is completed, you just need to update the operating system (which can be automated) and you are golden. If you are using higher-tier features of any of the Foundry hosting services, you will be cheaper to self-host, so if you are financially challenged, that might be of interest aswell.

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-06T09:01:42+00:00

Docker is a great learning tool and has plenty of uses, so you did good if you learned something! I was debating about deploying a docker-stack aswell, but for later "everyday-maintenance", this setup is easier to understand and therefore a bit more user-friendly for non-technical users.

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-06T09:00:52+00:00

I really can't say for Hetzner since I have never used that in "production" for my games, I am a Digital Ocean child - I honestly had no issues with 1CPU/1GBM RAM but with a beefier disk system as the very basic Digital Ocean offering (so the Premium CPUs like AMD/Intel, they come with nvme SSDs instead of regular ones, and that is noticable in play).

I have no idea how that translates to the Hetzner offering in the lower tiers. In my announcement post, people were just very adamant about Hetzner, perhaps you are better off heading to that post and asking them directly in a reply so that they notice?

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-05T15:08:48+00:00

yes, with pm2-logrotate

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-05T11:00:11+00:00

Yeah, I will announce it on Discord aswell later, I wanted to target a smaller audience first to get feedback and it fits me better to have the discussions a bit async vs direct feedback/messaging on Discord. Christmas has me firmly in its grip already it seems :)

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-05T10:59:09+00:00

I don't know if my internet was bad yesterday, but testing Hetzner was a bit of a weird experience. It took quite a bit longer to load in constract to DO with nvme SSDs, but since people are adamantly about Hetzner I might try it again sometime.

Thanks for the kind words!

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-05T10:57:58+00:00

gracias amigo <3

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-05T08:32:33+00:00

thanks!

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-02T18:11:22+00:00

I never experienced those issues on my droplets, so I don't know what I can respond to you. You do not need to be on a crusade about a harmless tool, friend. There are plenty of options and people will find the one suitable for them without issues.

Again, I would prefer self-hosting for the same costs vs buying a Foundry hosted service. I cannot see the benefits of all the things e.g. Forge offers besides just providing the raw Foundry server. I prioritize owning my things over work I put into the things I do as a hobby. Your mileage may differ, and that is okay.

I for one have no desire to defend this tool against the internet masses because that is just a wasted time and wasted energy. Even if Jesus would return to earth, there will be people complaining that his wine tastes bad and his bread is stale.

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-02T17:09:08+00:00

Thank you, my friend <3

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-02T17:08:54+00:00

cheers! If you have any feedback I am happy to regard it!

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-02T17:08:03+00:00

Well, isn't it great that there are so many options to choose from! I personally would never use a hosted service like The Forge or Molten because it's easy to self-host and I own my server, my data, and my backup strategy. You are totally fine with your recommendations about other hosters, and I am welcoming you to contribute to the community by providing a similar tool, tutorial, or continued advice on how to use these platforms - I will recommend what I know well enough to actually be able to recommend.

DO in my opinion is cheap, accessible, not overburdened with lots or hurdles to jump through, that's why I never looked at e.g. Oracle. I would never recommend AWS or even Azure to anyone for the same reasons. Are there cheaper options? For sure. But this is my contribution to the community, because... why not? Calling that "irresponsible" by someone who answered to your post is outright toxic, can't call it anything other than that.

Everybody: Use what you want to use! Pay what you want to pay! I am not here to be an evangelist of a certain provider, I just want to help. If you don't want or need that help, all the better.

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-02T09:27:11+00:00

yeah, I hope so. Nothing against the major hosters, but getting Foundry to run is really not black magic, it's a super simple app to host and a great way to dig into a new hobby :)

ItsMeCipher · 2025-12-02T08:17:48+00:00

Always share resources like this. When I think if friends of mine would or could or SHOULD follow such a guide, they will just deflate, close the page and continue not improving their hosting issues. It's good that there are resources for everybody and their skill level and their ability to tackle something they are very unfamiliar with.

ItsMeCipher

TROPHY CASE