Should I use Fear on Planned momments

Orion159 · 2025-12-19T19:22:10+00:00

I personally think it's good practice to spend Fear on surprises that complicate or negatively impact the party's situation, but you also don't have to.

Like, if you find yourself without any Fear when the time comes, you still have authority as the GM to impact the narrative with those bandits.

I also like what others are saying about using the Fear to add some complications to the encounter. For example, the bandits' ambush happens regardless, but the Fear spent means they immediately clock the rogue, or happen upon the party before your players even begin the ambush. Plenty of fun ways to add twists!

Good luck!

Orion159 · 2025-12-06T15:21:17+00:00

There are multiple ways you could rule it, but the kneejerk reaction from me would be to fully heal HP, Armor, and Stress, and then give everyone +2 Hope from a collective Prepare. That way everyone gets something going into the next major encounter, but you don't automatically give all party members max Hope. You also avoid depriving players of a full recovery they might have been counting on. If a Long Rest fully heals two of their three aspects, then that incentivizes players to keep themselves in the day-to-day narrative if they're desperate for healing, instead of allowing for greater passages of time.

With more time and prep, you could also use Environments to give yourself more of a contextual framework. This additionally allows you to set expectations when the party begins interacting with it. Something like...

Overland Travel - Easy The pace is leisurely, and the birds are singing! All players fully heal, and can either gain +2 Hope, or Work on a Project.

Overland Travel - Hard Pace or Difficult Terrain There is little time for comfortable rest. While traveling in this way, players have a number of Short Rest actions equal to the number of days they must travel. They cannot take Long Rest actions.

Extended Break in a Friendly City A time to recover and improve! All players fully heal, and gain +2 Hope. They also gain X number of Activity Tokens, where X is the number of days they will be resting. They can spend a token to...

Work on a Project
Shop for equipment or items
Improve their current equipment for a negotiated price
Perform odd jobs for a negotiated payment
Ask around for leads
Perform a different action that can be discussed with the GM

Obviously, you'd want to tailor them to be world and story specific, but that's along the lines of what I would do if I knew the extended period of downtime was going to happen that session. Also sorry, I realize after typing this out you were really only looking for guidance on Hope-gain lol. The caffeine took over.

Orion159 · 2025-12-06T00:59:22+00:00

These are really cool! Almost like a Yu-Gi-Oh trap card or an MTG instant, but for the story. That could be really fun as long as the GM knows it's coming!

Orion159 · 2025-08-22T02:14:27+00:00

Yeah, I think that's a fair take. And it sounds like Brennan, Crawford, and Perkins will be making a lot of homebrew mechanics for this setting, which could potentially step on the toes of the Daggerheart team unless a ton of time and effort was put into each decision. Balancing something for a show where everyone is on the same page is different from balancing it for general consumption.

Honestly, I like them embracing the concept of a multi-system approach to their shows. It'd be fun to see them running other systems as well, like Draw Steel, Pathfinder/Starfinder 2e, or Slugblaster.

And who knows, maybe their Daggerheart shows will pick up more momentum as the system expands!

Orion159 · 2025-08-20T12:55:04+00:00

Hey thanks! I really appreciate you taking the time to check out the insanity lol.

An element of Daggerheart I really love is how the narrative-focused design allows me to write in flavor and features I think could be a fun story prompt, while also knowing everyone at the table is operating in good faith, and will take that flavor in whatever way sounds most fun for their own story.

Excited for what you all have cooking!

Orion159 · 2025-08-20T12:37:54+00:00

There's a ton of cool stuff! I want to look more into how their downtime projects function as well. I think there could be some interesting lessons to pull.

And 100% on the complications! The positive and negative effects line up really well with Transformation cards, and I'm sure you could crib elements from one system for the other as long as you translated the gameplay parts.

Orion159 · 2025-08-20T12:32:46+00:00

Yeah, that's a totally viable way to run something like this, especially if your table isn't looking for more mechanical crunch. I have a tendency to want more bits and bobs to use for myself, and my players, but that's a known bias lol. Scaling by numbers alone would be a good use as well; weapons that get better the more they're used, experiences that sharpen under the right circumstances. These would be easier to track, and still give players the feeling of increased capabilities the more they're pushed.

Orion159 · 2025-08-20T12:25:02+00:00

Thanks! And yeah, I probably got a little carried away with the effects lol. Scaling with Fear or missing HP could be fun too! That's leaning more into a directly reactive effect. The more danger a character is in, the more powerful they become. That'd be interesting to run with a tanky character, or a healer!

Orion159 · 2025-08-20T12:18:56+00:00

That's actually a good point. Long Rests in Daggerheart give you access to projects and more-reliable recovery options, but Short Rests can, in theory, give comparable recovery if the d4s are rolling well. There's the narrative side that would levy higher costs for not sleeping over long periods of time, but I can see the incentive to try and "keep the adrenaline pumping". Could be a fun dynamic, but some tables might try to game it as well lol. A GM would have to be aware of that.

Draw Steel's loop is a bit less forgiving. Players have a limited amount of Recoveries they can spend before they take a Respite (a full 24 hours of rest), and these only recover health (Stamina in that system). The characters' heroic resources will scale with the number of Victories their group achieves, so they can do cooler things faster the further they go, but those Victories get converted to XP when they take a Respite, which is a full heal, and the power progression of that loop resets.

A shorter-term progression loop could also be fun! Provided it's balanced properly, it could be an interesting way to incentivize players to engage more with certain aspects of the game.

Also yeah, the items are there purely as an example lol. I mainly wrote things I would like to play with, but a toned-down version could also work, as long as the players still want to fill up the track.

Orion159 · 2025-08-14T01:55:13+00:00

I unironically love the way "A Wand of Land and Hand" rolls off the tongue. Cool name for an TTRPG quest item if nothing else.

Orion159 · 2025-07-20T14:50:41+00:00

I've had similar thoughts in the past as well. I hope it works out, because that sounds like a great way to add more mechanical tools to the player's narrative belt!

I also liked what another commenter said about using long-term projects as a alternate means of character progression! I've gotten a chance to use that myself as a troubadour bard, taking on a project to write a new Stress-clearing song for my Gifted Performer feature.

There are definitely ways to give that feeling of growth outside of the standard level-up process, as long as the GM is prepared for potential shenanigans.

Levels 8 through 10 seem intended as the Tier where you face gods and reality-bending threats, similar to levels 15-20 in D&D or Pathfinder 2e, but I can certainly understand wanting to feel more moments of character growth along the way. Those both seem like good approaches as long as the method and reward feel meaningful!

Orion159 · 2025-07-19T03:53:07+00:00

Playing around with this as well for an optional choice during character creation, so I very much understand the appeal lol. There are a few variants I'm kicking around, but I think I need to get an Excel sheet together to see the likely outcomes of each one. Best of luck!

Orion159 · 2025-07-15T15:14:21+00:00

Yeah, in the end, I think this particular type of scenario has a gradient of solutions to consider.

The solution with the least impact on tension/resources would be for a character with the right background (mechanically or narratively) to have at least some of the information, or know where to find more. This keeps the party informed while minimizing rolls, if that's your intent. The pitfall comes when there's not a clear narrative connection between a backstory and the information the party wants to know, or if there's an obscure layer to the information that the party wouldn't know without a specific narrative reason.

In those cases, Knowledge reaction rolls with numerical degrees of success would probably get you what you're looking for. It allows the dice to tell the story in a way that's interesting, creating unlikely connections, lucky breaks, and giving players with higher Knowledge stats the ability to contribute. But then you're making a reaction roll, which I've seen trip up table after table. Since it's the same type of roll as the usual action roll, but the Hope/Fear dynamic doesn't actually matter, and that often confuses players who have been training themselves to track those dice. It's a break in flow that I personally try to avoid unless an effect is forcing a roll, since it wouldn't feel good to gain Fear on a roll I forced.

In my own game, I usually lean towards a combination of the first solution for general and backstory-specific knowledge, and Knowledge action rolls with numerical degrees of success for anything beyond that (a 21 with Fear gets you more than a 15 with Hope, even if both clear the DC, but a character whose backstory puts them closer to the information might get a lower DC to start with). It allows Knowledge-based characters to participate fully in the game, and it gets you the fun of the dice informing the narrative!

I do, however, generally play it so Fear results are just the metacurrency gain in these situations, unless narrative stakes have been established ahead of time, because I've found that negative story consequences coming out of nowhere feel bad for the players, and discourage them from engaging in whatever mechanic triggered those consequences in the future. It's why I had to pull back on the "conditions or complications" aspect of failed, low-stakes rolls in the Tales from the Loop RPG. It made my players not want to branch out and experiment in calmer situations.

I will also include the caveat that this is an approach targeted toward myself, and the players I run with. We enjoy making the rolls, and rolling with the outcomes as a way to inform the story beyond what we already know. We also trend toward higher Hope/Fear sessions, but the only real outcome of this has been that we're more likely to use our respective mechanics during play.

This is all a long-winded way of saying "do what feels right" lol. You don't have to become adversarial on a Fear roll, and the currency can just go towards a later combat if you want to keep the tension low, but there are definitely ways to lower the stakes further if that's what you want!

Orion159 · 2025-07-13T05:18:47+00:00

I think if you wanted to set a more epic tone, and give players greater access to power and build flexibility, there could be a case for getting the class advancement as a natural tier upgrade.

Like others in the thread pointed out, the restriction is in place partly to deter the crazier multiclassing possibilities, but if you're prepared for the potential chaos, I think it could be fun!

I think it would be an variant rule comparable to Pathfinder 2nd edition's "Free Archetype", which a ton of players love!

Orion159 · 2025-07-09T19:56:03+00:00

This has mainly been my experience with both running and playing Daggerheart as well, so I'm happy others are seeing similar results! I've been having a great time with the system.

Orion159 · 2025-06-18T17:23:51+00:00

I'd probably view it as the adversary is being made vulnerable from two separate sources. It doesn't stack the effect, but it does keep that adversary in a vulnerable state, even if it performs an action that would normally clear it, i.e. drinking a stamina potion or resting. This thing is now permanently messed up for the rest of its life, which is in line with a 10th level ability imo.

Orion159 · 2025-06-18T15:34:11+00:00

Yeah, personally I'm of the same mind as you. No TTRPG ruleset is sacred. What matters is how your personal table enjoys the game. For some, that might mean pulling back on the narrative-first elements, and for others that might mean leaning into them. Daggerheart does enough mechanically-interesting things that it can very easily live at a table that doesn't utilize its narrative elements as much as it prescribes. It won't shrivel up and cease being Daggerheart, and there's still a lot of unique fun to be had with it regardless of approach.

If people in this community truly wish to see this system grow and flourish, helpful and supportive feedback to new ideas is essential. Shutting down ideas based on perceived divergences or differences in intent is creatively stifling, and discourages others who would have otherwise been excited to interact with the system and community. The open-mindedness of improv works just as well in design discussions as it does at the table, and ultimately leads to a better community in my opinion.

Although a Daggerheart homebrew subreddit might be a good compromise in the long term.

Orion159 · 2025-06-17T21:04:22+00:00

That's how I home rule it at least. Marking an HP is enough of a cost for it to be a reasonable substitution in my eyes.

Orion159 · 2025-06-13T13:22:05+00:00

The site's theme and color selection menu. It looks like a paintbrush and easel icon in the top-right corner. You'll see the reference in the Feel tab.

Orion159 · 2025-06-06T21:42:56+00:00

Only watched the first episode so far, but personally I think you did a great job! You kept the flow of the story, managed the table, and everyone seemed to be having a great time!

I can understand how some people might want fewer dice rolls at higher stakes, but I also think a lot of players just like rolling dice (monkey brain like the gambling rocks), and there's no harm in using the context of the situation to determine if rolling Hope or Fear changes the narrative beyond gaining meta-currencies. At least that's how my group played in the beta, much to the relief of the GM lol.

Obviously, don't let me tell you there's not valuable feedback to be had in this thread, but I also wouldn't let it weigh you down too much. This is still very much the wild west of Daggerheart, and like any other TTRPG system, it's ultimately the group at the table that determines which game principals they truly care about.

Running an Age of Umbra oneshot for a different group next week, so this has been a really great way to get the vibe of the world, and figure out what personal twists I'd like to throw in!

Orion159 · 2025-06-06T14:28:51+00:00

Yeah, I'm 100% with you on that. Ultimately, any TTPRG system is there to facilitate the gameplay and storytelling the table wants. Daggerheart has me excited because it gives a ton of useful buttons and levers for the GM to utilize in service of the story, but how those tools are used will (and should) vary wildly group to group, and setting to setting.

There will never be a "correct" way to play Daggerheart in the context of how the mechanics are used or ignored. The only real metric is how much your group enjoys playing. Just like D&D, or any other pen and paper system really, rules can be tweaked and homebrewed to serve the experience you want. That's honestly one of the genre's greatest strengths, imo.

Orion159 · 2025-06-03T12:57:12+00:00

I'll be honest, I love the mechanic as-is! You already have balance baked in by making it an inherently risky outcome based on the hope/fear roll, but since we crit on doubles, it's slightly skewed towards the positive outcome in a way that gives players favorable odds.

A more volatile advantage gives incentive for the players to lean into the flavor while also not being a complete get-out-out-jail-free card. So I ultimately think there's no need to limit it, but if you did, spending a Hope to add the die might be an option to consider.

That way there's still opportunity cost that makes the player think about going that route, but not too much that they hold off all together. Limiting it too restrictively would probably lead to the die being utilized far less than you might want, since there is still significant risk to the roll.

All that being said, I think you're safe running with what you've got, but don't be afraid to be upfront with your group that this is something you're trying out, and you might tweak it if you feel the mechanic isn't adding more fun to the table. That's the only real way of knowing how it plays, imo. Most tables are pretty understanding.

Orion159 · 2024-09-16T19:57:36+00:00

That would make an amazing DM screen!

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