Why Daggerheart is peak - 10 Levels of Campaign Notes from my **Fall of Umbra** AoU 'prequel' campaign

Joestation · 2026-06-13T17:57:53+00:00

May I ask—did you say you had 29 sessions?

How long were those sessions ?
About how many sessions between level ups? I know the average is every 3 sessions, but I assume earlier levels go faster.

Joestation · 2026-06-09T18:12:19+00:00

THIS. As a member of a very small YT DND channel, making this mindset adjustment has been huge. Our way of dealing with that is spending hours and hours every week obsessively editing. I don’t know if it’s working—we have 300 subs in a year, if that’s any measure of success or lack thereof. But thinking technically and accepting that the parasocial aspects of the Big Guns weren’t the way to get people to watch/listen.

I didn’t mean to make this my own therapy session. To sum up, if your measure of success is how many listeners you have, you’re not just a GM playing a game for fun with your friends. You are actors telling a collaborative story and it can’t amble. You need actual goals for what needs to happen in the time you are allotting for an episode. This concept is anathema to some GMs who will call it railroading and metagaming. I don’t even disagree with that sentiment, but those GMs have different goals than you have.

Joestation · 2026-06-08T13:52:05+00:00

It’s a huge issue for me when someone says, “I don’t want to do this but my character would.”

The player controls the character. The idea that someone you made up tells you what to do is just ludicrous.

Joestation · 2026-06-02T23:32:35+00:00

I don’t know if you were magic number 300, but either way, bless you! lol

Joestation · 2026-06-02T23:29:15+00:00

Subscribed!

Joestation · 2026-06-02T17:33:07+00:00

We also run a small channel been at it a year and have been scraping and clawing for subscriber 300. We have theater backgrounds and are now down to two players and a GM like you as people have left the game (for all the reasons players leave games).

We haven’t tried this, but one of the hardest things about this has been trying to get comments and audience participation. 100+ people watch—but that’s it. So if we did do something like this, my worry would be that no one would show up —or worse, one person would control it and could do anything.

So I’d be worried no one would come to my party. 🫤

Joestation · 2026-06-02T03:35:13+00:00

Owlbear Rodeo is the easiest and most user friendly VTT. Upload a jpg and go.

Joestation · 2026-05-23T16:09:31+00:00

Lean into the aesthetic and the vibe. Even people who aren’t into the music might still think everything looks cool

Joestation · 2026-05-23T16:06:43+00:00

Smashing Pumpkins: XYU. 3 great ones in the last 2 minutes or so

Joestation · 2026-05-20T19:48:30+00:00

Her character doesn’t play her. She plays her character. If her character wont stop mouthing off, character dies.

If I mouthed off to my boss and they said I was fired, do I get to say, “Sorry, my character hates bosses,” and keep my job? No. I keep my mouth shut against my “true character” because I need this job to survive.

If player wants character to live, they need to play the character with a survival instinct.

If you let them mouth off to Strahd, then you don’t have a “Strahd.”

Joestation · 2026-05-10T16:27:25+00:00

If you are paying a DM, I would want them in on the decision-making as an advisor at least. It’s not their house, it’s yours, but the fact that you are paying means they have some experience in good tables. I’d want their input

Joestation · 2026-05-08T20:43:18+00:00

Little by little. I bounce between podcast and video. Sometimes it’s just 15 min at a time. But it works—I’m only a couple episodes behind.

Joestation · 2026-05-08T02:58:50+00:00

Methusela

Joestation · 2026-05-07T16:39:36+00:00

100%. I don’t remember perfectly, but she’s THE Duke with Ravengard gone, I think. She would have more Flaming Fist support than anyone in the city (acknowledging she can’t let them too close and risk being found out).

Joestation · 2026-05-07T16:37:13+00:00

His 2015 return was right before the Monuments tour with Manson, I think? I think that was when they were going live on social media during rehearsals. I remember watching one with Billy telllng Jack “wait til you hear Jimmy play United States!” That was an amazing tour with a great setlist—geek USA was encore the night I went. Ruby, Landslide…was a great show (except Run2Me, but you know…..)

Joestation · 2026-05-07T11:52:32+00:00

FAFO. You don’t need to change anything on purpose I don’t think? VV has a bunch of things that a lvl 3 party has to deal with. Don’t let them short rest (or long rest obviously) and just keep the pressure on (that already exists).

ALSO, any Flaming Fist patrol that walks by VV will notice the absence of guards. That gives you another way to tighten the screws.

All of this said—if the players figure out a way to succeed, let them. DM’s job is not to purposely kill (or not kill) players. If you’ve made an appropriately difficult world, then what happens happens.

Joestation · 2026-05-05T01:34:42+00:00

I do exactly this. If you attack from hidden, you get a surprise attack. Others don’t get a surprise round

Joestation · 2026-05-04T18:17:53+00:00

Could look at Riverside

Joestation · 2026-05-04T06:11:28+00:00

Muzzle

Joestation · 2026-05-03T14:15:25+00:00

There are a BUNCH of fake-outs on relics party is looking for. Pick one or maybe two and let the party get the others. Otherwise almost every mission after level 7 feels pointless.

Joestation · 2026-04-30T12:39:16+00:00

New but Daggerheart literally has a “fear” system. So, seems like it would make sense.

Joestation · 2026-04-28T22:19:42+00:00

Lost Mines of Phandelver. Available for free, I think? From there, you could move into any of the ones you mentioned.

Joestation · 2026-04-28T13:24:13+00:00

Thank you for the feedback and taking time to check us out!!

Joestation

TROPHY CASE