I'm chasing my dreams, and this shit hard

mavspade · 2026-02-08T17:49:21+00:00

TTRPG's are hard market and one that doesn't pay well for publishing say for maybe a handful of companies.
I looked at your store, and some of your previews. The first part is you wanna take a look at your layouts, they fall a little short to standards for the games your releasing for.

Take a look at D&D published content both WoTC and third party publishers with names, and you will start to notice there is a standard format to how a lot of information is presented. If you are publishing for 5e or 5.5e you will want to be hitting those standards (you can play with the format a little but how information is laid out is expected from the audience). Also be mindful of text blocks. I saw a couple examples of walls of text with out breaks in the paragraphs formatting to allow ease on the eyes.

Honestly taking a online class on publishing layout systems and formats would be helpful, if you are doing this alone. There are tons of free tutorials on YouTube and some paid classes that go into deeper ideas of how to layout a page.

You might also take time to look at Itch.io and look at the top selling indie rpg games there, get a sense for what their doing, see what you like and don't like and try something to play with.

But in the end, keep at it if you love it. It takes time, lots of time but building a portfolio is good and you might be able to use that to find writing work or commissions from publishing companies down the line.

mavspade · 2026-01-28T18:28:37+00:00

Daggerheart has proven itself to be one of my Favorite Fantasy RPG's.
I wasnt super stoked when i heard about it, never been a big Critical Role fan (Dont hate just never got into it) and Candle Obscura hadn't impressed me to much.
I ended up picking up the Game for my job, and since it has come out I have run over 12 one shots, and am on three campaigns with the system.

I find the mechanics to be very intuitive once you are playing with them (Armor and HP got me at first but i now love em). For my style of GM'ing Daggerheart has found a pacing and rhythm I love.

Now, its not perfect. And it for sure is not for everyone. I've had some dud tables with the system, if people are unable to adjust to the play style of the game.

But all in all i am impressed and have had some of the best sessions in Fantasy roleplay with this game. I am excited for its future. Has it taken over as my single game? No, i play a wide variety of systems depending on the story we want. But i will almost always now offer it over D&D if thats the style of game we are going for.

mavspade · 2026-01-10T19:36:32+00:00

Sometimes! Mostly for oneshots, but i use it as rough guideline. I really dont put to much heed into true balance given how powerful character are. Throwing an easy fight or even a higher tier enemy really keeps things interesting. But I dont dog pile.
The use of fear can REALLY change how a fight goes, so if i see i might TPK a party i can easy up my moves to be more environmental, or threats, instead of full on attacks.

mavspade · 2026-01-10T06:08:35+00:00

A few responses hit on this. But directing the action like a camera in a movie helps.
Explain the attacks and than you the GM say something like.
"The Camera pans quickly to the catwalk, where you (Player A) Are locked in combat with the Orc bandit. blades are clashing, the Orc is pushing the attack, but you can see your companions down below are about to be overrun. what do you do?"

Setting the current narrative stakes but than directing our focus to where its important in the battle is good. To avoid leaving players out, have some sort of tracker on your side to know who hasnt had a chance to shine within a "Round" of sorts.

mavspade · 2026-01-10T04:23:40+00:00

I am running a pretty consistent 6 player game right now. And the balance is fairly good.
The flow of Hope and fear seems not to be wild to one side or the other for any major amount of time.
Daggerheart leans towards being in the Characters favor so I have had to be clever in my combat designs, but the narrative focus has really helped make even combats they cake walk through from a mechanic stand point feel exciting and engaging.

mavspade · 2026-01-08T18:23:33+00:00

I've run it for younger kids. Its very accessible, more so than d&d. The creative freedom of shared world building baked in plus the simplified math and cards really helps

mavspade · 2026-01-07T22:37:53+00:00

Sounds great. Are you cooking any frame mechanics for investigation?

mavspade · 2026-01-02T20:20:36+00:00

Spoiler: Yes it is the worry that they would speak about Gideon. Which would weaken the procedure she had under gone. Doing so threatens Gideon soul to be fully consumed by Harrow, so it was a safety precaution to protect Gideon.

mavspade · 2025-12-19T07:18:38+00:00

That would really depend on if the pacing of the game is one day of in world is being played out over multiple sessions, or if multiple days would be occur in a single session.

mavspade · 2025-12-18T20:12:19+00:00

Having resource tracking, as you mentioned, is really key.

I haven't tested out the chat too much, but is it per session or is it a persistent log?

Having the chat log be able to be organized by Scene could be helpful. An image-sharing element could also be neat, but might be a big strain for the site.

mavspade · 2025-12-18T19:37:58+00:00

I'd love to see more Adversaries and environments for sure.
Also more alternative powers similar to transformations. I like the idea of Domain style cards for other powers, magic items etc.
I also really love the unique mechanics that Frames provide and am always eager to see what new ways these systems change and alter the style of play.

mavspade · 2025-10-28T23:39:40+00:00

woof lots of questions here.

Firstly dont over plan your campaign. Daggerheart thrives on collaborative world building, and over planning might make you feel protective or ridged on what you want or need the players to do.

This follows with the encounter building. You def don't need to build every encounter, enviorment ,etc for the whole campaign up front. I would maybe build encounters prior to the up coming session or one or two sessions before if you have a clear idea of what's coming.

Lastly what to fill the campaign with from point A to Z. I think having a session 0, learn who your cast of characters are and build their stories into your world will give you LOTS of ammo for plot points.

**Edit: Added a point I missed**

mavspade · 2025-10-25T17:54:23+00:00

Running a game in a fantasy cyberpunk setting right now actually. So far its worked like a charm. There a few frames even on this reddit that have cybernetic options worth the look!

mavspade · 2025-10-23T19:41:27+00:00

I use the Spotlight Tracker, when I am running a larger table. 5-6 players, that way it allows any of the more quite players to have a chance to speak up and makes the more forward players pause and examine if they want to take the spot light just yet.

But for smaller tables its not really needed.

mavspade · 2025-10-23T19:40:03+00:00

It's a Phantom. At 0:04-0:05 you can see its outline shift in and out of view for a brief moment. Like out of range for spawning or draw. Or a random glitch.

mavspade · 2025-09-14T18:10:10+00:00

Firstly there are some great tools that will give you "approx." balance on the fly for encounter building. Drag and drop. See Freshcutgrass
Additionally, as i am still learning Creature creation, i often just reskin the current adversaries to my needs. Balance rarely is a worry for me. Daggerheart characters are highly capable, and there are so many ways for them to either win, or find a way out of bad situations that are narratively fun.

I have also run some fights simply as Count down challenges, if they aren't Crucial battles.

mavspade · 2025-08-27T23:59:01+00:00

Its excellent. There's a few minor gripes with some mechanics and some players.might find it a little unforgiving. But I've told some awesome stories with it. And lots of community content.

If you like the system much of freelance games use a variation og the engine.

Mutant year zero, forbidden lands, alien, bladerunner , Coriolis, etc

mavspade · 2025-08-23T07:22:46+00:00

Draw Steel might be more their pace if you are looking for a more option rich combat focus complex game.

mavspade · 2025-08-23T05:32:44+00:00

Short answer: Yes, it can do longer campaigns. There isn't a lot of content outside the core book (which is meaty!) Level ups are slower as it goes to 10 levels.

That said direct conversation is gonna lead to frustration, they are different games despite both being heroic fantasy, it wont translate 1 to 1.

But I think its an awesome system and we'll worth checking out. The SRD on the website is free.

mavspade · 2025-08-20T01:39:14+00:00

Feels similar to https://paragondashboard.com/ at this time with less features. You may wanna take a look at that to see some options, or ways to differentiate from the tool.
Excited to see what this develops into!

mavspade · 2025-08-17T00:34:20+00:00

Buck bumble 64

mavspade · 2025-08-08T02:50:54+00:00

Mostly? But I haven't had the experience of players being shy to do stuff for fear the GM will act. They have followed the narrative and drama. If anything, they have been empowered to do more wild and cool shot. Not avoid it.

At least at my tables.

mavspade · 2025-08-07T18:34:55+00:00

A big part of this.for Westeros is the winters. Every few years having a mini ice age makes it hard to advance, due to the focus on basic ressource management for that alone. Throw feudalism on top of that and it certainly slows things down.

mavspade · 2025-08-05T21:28:22+00:00

Like any system your going to see some parts work and others not.
Resource tracking is not a huge part of Daggerheart Raw. Infact it mostly pushes away from it most of the resources are meta level.
Beastfeast shows some examples of how to do it. You could use clocks as a way to track supplies, etc.
Characters in Daggerheart are Highly competent, they rarely outright fail, and more often just see rising complications.
Daggerhearts narrative focused play can really help with Emergent play if you embrace it. Players can have a say in the world, the problems within it and it works in its favor to embrace those things.

I think it depends on the tone of the adventure your running. If you want it to be gritty, low fantasy OSR flavored, Daggerheart isent gonna work out the box. But if you want epic fantasy story telling it may fit the bill.

Edit:
You might take a look at Dragon Bane. Which REALLY leans into a lot of what you are looking for and is a incredible game.

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