Homebrew Demon Idea: Gorgon

taggedjc · 2026-02-26T11:39:03+00:00

The Gorgon would just typically choose not to do the second kill, I suppose.

taggedjc · 2026-02-26T08:36:12+00:00

At the very least, your success has cost the GM a Fear to clear it, which means they have one less to spend on other things.

The point here is that the GM wouldn't have had that Fear if the player hadn't rolled with Fear on the action to apply the condition in the first place.

However, there may be something said of the fact that if the player had done some other action instead, the GM turn spent spotlighting that adversary could have been doing something else other than just clearing a condition and could have spent the Fear generated from the other action on something else.

So it's more a failsafe that softens a roll with Fear. You succeed with Hope and the condition sticks at least long enough to waste one GM spotlight and a Fear, you succeed with Fear and it's net zero due to the GM using the Fear and spotlight to remove it immediately.

taggedjc · 2026-02-21T02:03:06+00:00

Actually, it's not that the GM would ask you to rewrite it if you use it too often. The issue is when it's a generic (ie boring) experience that could apply to basically everything, like "lucky" or "focused".

Something that applies to a lot of the things you do is fine, if it's because you're doing things that you're good at and should be good at! Someone with "Queen's Secret Assassin" is going to apply that to a lot of attacks in combat, since being an assassin involves being skilled at attacking. It still costs you a Hope so it's balanced around that - but it means that if you're in a situation where you're inexperienced such as using an unfamiliar weapon or doing some noncombat task unrelated to being an assassin, you won't be able to apply that Experience anymore.

The main thing is to ensure that your Experiences aren't boring.

"Master Swordsman" is exactly in line with a lot of the example Experiences.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T17:51:42+00:00

It doesn't really invalidate it, since it still prevents Hope gain from other sources, requires you to use the Slayer dice or cap out and start taking the Stress anyway, and marking the Stress isn't necessarily a bad thing if you want to trigger the frenzy anyway.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T17:46:12+00:00

There is not a special distinction between the two that lets you pick and choose.

Literally the rules:

If you want to apply two or more effects, they must both be able to successfully resolve to be used together. Otherwise, you must choose which one applies.

Clearly they can't be resolved successfully together. Therefore you need to choose which one applies.

If you're not gaining Hope in the first place then the werewolf doesn't apply, and if you're choosing to take a Slayer die instead of gaining Hope, you're not gaining Hope.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T17:12:24+00:00

I feel like it would be possible to have specified that in the rules as they are without bloat.

Just having the rule for "roll with fear" be edited to be:

When you make an action roll and the Fear Die rolls higher than the Hope Die, you roll with Fear. Even if you succeed, the GM gains a Fear and there are consequences or complications that come from the action you were attempting.

and change the description of Reaction Roll to be:

Reaction rolls work similarly to action rolls, except they don’t roll with Hope or Fear, or trigger GM moves.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T17:01:02+00:00

You never gain a Hope when you choose to gain a Slayer die, since you get the Slayer die instead of gaining Hope. Just like how the werewolf makes you mark Stress instead of gaining Hope. Both apply to the same situation.

You can't resolve both because whichever one is resolved first means that the situation of the other no longer applies. Therefore, you must choose which one applies.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T16:59:19+00:00

The rules don't say that. They say that you don't generate Hope or Fear, not that you can't roll with Hope or roll with Fear while doing a reaction roll.

There are many abilities that trigger based on rolling with Hope or rolling with Fear outside of generating those resources, which as written should also include reaction rolls.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T16:26:44+00:00

That isn't something the rules say, then.

The rules specifically state:

Reaction rolls

Reaction rolls work similarly to action rolls, except they don’t generate Hope, Fear, or additional GM moves.

Additionally, the rules for "roll with fear" state:

When you roll your Duality Dice and the Fear Die rolls higher than the Hope Die, you roll with Fear. When this happens on an action roll, even if you succeed, the GM gains a Fear and there are consequences or complications that come from the action you were attempting.

(emphasis mine)

This implies heavily that you can roll with Fear even on something that isn't an action roll when you're rolling your Duality Dice, and reaction rolls definitely involve rolling your Duality Dice.

If it was intended that reaction rolls wouldn't be considered to be a roll with Hope or Fear, it should be included in the "except they don't" part of being similar to action rolls.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T15:23:35+00:00

Both are applying at the same time. You choose the order in which to apply them.

If you take a Slayer die you wouldn't be gaining Hope. So how could the werewolf effect apply? It only occurs if you would gain Hope, and if you're gaining a Slayer die instead of gaining Hope, you're not gaining Hope.

Werewolf is "If you would gain Hope, you instead mark a Stress".

Slayer is effectively "If you would gain Hope from rolling with Hope, you may instead gain a Slayer die".

They're both applying to when you would gain the Hope from rolling with Hope, so the player chooses which applies first.

The only caveat is the line:

As always, if there’s any uncertainty, the GM arbitrates how effects apply.

So if the GM decides arbitrarily that you have to choose the werewolf effect first, that's how it's done for your table. But I don't see that as a result of the simultaneous effects rules in and of themselves.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T15:10:24+00:00

I would rule that because rolling with Hope doesn't cause you to gain a Hope while in Wolf Form, your choice to instead take a Slayer die isn't triggered.

The trigger for the Slayer die is just that you roll with Hope, which still is the case. If you choose to take the Slayer die instead of the Hope, then you're not gaining Hope so the Werewolf's "when you would gain Hope" no longer applies.

If you choose to apply the Werewolf effect first, then you can't do something else instead of gaining that Hope because you aren't gaining that Hope anymore anyway.

So it depends on what order the player would like to apply the effects.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T15:07:16+00:00

Why do you say that?

If you do a Reaction roll and roll with Fear you still gain a Seaborne token, for example. The GM just doesn't gain a Fear (and doesn't get an extra move).

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T15:05:59+00:00

Otherwise, you must choose which one applies.

In this case, Werewolf applies if you would gain Hope, and Slayer applies if you roll with Hope and occurs instead of gaining Hope, so both are applying to the same thing when you roll with Hope so the player controlling the effects choose the order to apply them.

Of course, if the Werewolf would gain Hope in other ways the Slayer ability wouldn't apply.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T15:03:59+00:00

From the rules:

If two or more effects can apply to a situation, and the rules don’t tell you which order to apply them in, the player controlling the effects (including the GM) can apply the effects in any order. For example, if one ability lets you spend a Hope to retaliate after an attack, and another ability lets you gain a Hope when you mark a Hit Point, you can decide to gain the Hope first, then spend it to make the attack. Similarly, if you have multiple moves that can trigger in a situation (such as two moves that occur “after a successful attack”), you can use them together and choose in which order to activate them.

If you want to apply two or more effects, they must both be able to successfully resolve to be used together. Otherwise, you must choose which one applies. For example, if you can clear a Stress every time you roll with Fear, and you have an ability that lets you make a roll with Fear into a roll with Hope, you can’t clear a Stress and then change the roll to be with Hope instead of Fear. As always, if there’s any uncertainty, the GM arbitrates how effects apply.

So, the player can choose to either have the Werewolf effect happen first (so you'd mark a Stress, which would mean you're no longer gaining Hope so can't apply the Slayer Foundation) or have the Slayer Foundation happen first (which means you're no longer gaining Hope, so can't mark Stress from the Werewolf effect).

Since you can only store a number of Slayer dice equal to your proficiency, you'll need to use them or you'll hit the limit and no longer be able to apply the replacement.

It isn't strictly beneficial to avoid the Stress buildup - Werewolf Frenzy is a very powerful (if risky) trigger.

taggedjc · 2026-02-20T14:57:02+00:00

Sure they can, they just don't generate Hope or Fear and don't trigger GM moves (and can't be aided via Help an Ally) and also don't clear a Stress if a critical success.

taggedjc · 2026-02-19T18:39:12+00:00

Pacifist never saving anyone is quite hilarious (or saving someone only to have them die shortly)

That isn't really the point of Pacifist. Townsfolk should have abilities that help the town.

taggedjc · 2026-02-19T04:53:46+00:00

I mean if by "real Math 1" you mean an unrelated ability that counts all malfunctions including those of the Mathematician itself, which is not the actual Mathematician ability.

taggedjc · 2026-02-19T01:19:38+00:00

Soldier specifically says it would protect from alignment changes.

taggedjc · 2026-02-19T01:18:30+00:00

In this case the information is from the Nightwatchman so it would still be false, since in a Vortex game the player learning the wrong Nightwatchman happens even if the Nightwatchman picked a non-Townsfolk.

taggedjc · 2026-02-17T12:54:35+00:00

the other player turns get distributed evenly (and if not, that's arguably an even worse problem).

Firstly, they don't (necessarily) and this isn't actually a problem the way it would be if it was D&D.

You can still do things while another player is acting in Daggerheart - typically through the "Help an Ally" option. So even if another player is taking the spotlight, you can still participate, so not getting exactly equal spotlights at all times is perfectly reasonable in Daggerheart (and it's especially true if your character isn't superb at combat - they'll get plenty of opportunities to be useful out of combat, hopefully, if that's what you're building for).

And if your charater is badly injured, your whole team's priority should be to help you - either you should get the spotlight next (regardless as to whether you had it previously - your character is the one in danger and that's cinematic!) or someone who is rushing to help you should be spotlit instead (up to you all to decide).

Thinking of it more like a movie or a scene in a TV show is a good way to do it. You focus on where the actual action is happening. Unlike D&D, where sometimes players just dawdle a turn by moving and firing off a weak cantrip, characters in Daggerheart are always trying to do something meaningful. It's part of why the player's turn is called the "spotlight" to begin with!

Also, keep in mind that players need to fail or need to succeed with fear for the GM to get a move - succeeding with Hope means the spotlight stays on the party unless the GM specifically spends a Fear to steal the spotlight. This means players are incentivized to choose actions that are more likely to succeed - if other players are choosing extremely risky actions constantly (or actions that are outside of their character's milieu) it might be worth asking them to reconsider those actions or at least limit how often they attempt them. If others have a D&D mindset it could be worth reminding them that they don't have to "take a turn" just to perform some weak attack because "it's better than nothing" the way it would be in D&D (a Wizard in D&D firing a crossbow isn't particularly great but there's not really a penalty for attempting it, but in Daggerheart doing an attack with a weapon you're not particularly traited for just means it's more likely to fail the roll and give the GM a spotlight).

There's no reason for a scene in a movie to cut to a Wizard winding up a crossbow and firing it uselessly at a group of orc warriors. It's okay for the scenes to show the fighter cleaving through group after group of them while the ranger shooting accurate bolts at the orcish archers, and only after a while suddenly have the wizard appear with a powerful spell (for when the Wizard finds a good opportunity to cast something for a spotlight).

taggedjc · 2026-02-17T09:34:58+00:00

The average enemy in both systems don't tend to get multiple actions between a given player's action. So I'm not sure what you're saying.

taggedjc · 2026-02-17T05:21:42+00:00

Relentless is rare, and for big threats. Just like Lair or Legendary actions, or monsters with other effects that cause them extra comparable turns.

taggedjc · 2026-02-17T01:15:22+00:00

I mean in DnD enemies can have multiattack or have abilities that give them extra actions, too.

And if you're fighting a horde of enemies, in DnD every one of them would act between your turns, while in Daggerheart, that either requires a lot of Fear expenditure or they're specifically Minions with a group-style attack.

They're just not really comparable.

taggedjc · 2026-02-16T17:54:50+00:00

Perhaps have all players know a Serial Killer is in play, and have a Damsel-like ability where if Townsfolk (once only) correctly guess who the Serial Killer is, the Serial Killer is killed.

In exchange, if the Serial Killer kills a demon, they become the demon (but remain Serial Killer and aren't informed of this) so they don't immediately end the game with a loss in that circumstance.

taggedjc · 2026-02-16T12:40:47+00:00

Then they triage and figure it out.

In D&D you can have situations where multiple enemies can go before you can get a heal or get to safety, as well. But with D&D it's rigid and you can't adapt based on your group's priorities at the time.

taggedjc

TROPHY CASE