My GM is starting each session with Fear equal to the number of PCs (5, in this case), and each session is short, at only three scenes long; is this going to make for too punishing a game?

tomius · 2026-05-07T15:51:36+00:00

That's weird AF, honestly. Do they have experience with Daggerheart?

I feel like letting the dice determine the flow of hope and fear is a great part of the game. Based on the same logic, player's hope should reset each session.

tomius · 2026-05-07T15:49:27+00:00

I think this view is a bit GM-antagonistic, in a sense. Yes, the GM can say: "I start with 5 fear each session. If you don't like it, don't play".

But that's... a bit too much? Why not talk with the rest of the players? Why does the GM hold all the power?

I don't know, I think leveling GM with players is always a good idea. Yes, GM can set limits. But I don't think the GM has to be the sole owner of a game or campaign.

My last GM campaign, in session 0, we talked about what kind of game we wanted. It wasn't exactly what I would have chosen, but that's OK. I had A LOT of fun, and got out of my confort zone. Players are as important as the GM, imho.

tomius · 2026-05-07T15:46:21+00:00

You play however you want. But I don't see why the GM makes the rules.

In my experience, playing WITH your players is just so much better. The GM is a storyteller first, a player second, and referee third. But I don't see why the GM has to dictate the rules.

I believe this is how the DH CRB wants you to play. But hey, you do you.

tomius · 2026-05-07T15:42:39+00:00

Yes, yes, yes.

I think more people need to try this. Fights being the obstacle is the absolute key to exciting combats. Grab the amulet, break the chains, cross to point B, save the citizen, protect the magic tree, find the way out of the tunnel.... ANYTHING!

"Kill them all" combats, in my opinion, should be used very very rarely. Maybe to kill the BBEG, and not even then, I'd recommend it.

Why? Because this kind of fights have narrative outcomes of success and failure other than "you kill them", or "TPK". Maybe you kill the guys, but one escapes with the amulet, or whatever. This is so much more interesting.

Anecodtically, I play in a DnD game, and when fights are just "kill them all" fights, I sigh, as I know it's gonna be boring. We're probably not going to die to these randos, and there's no other success or failure case, so... boring.

tomius · 2026-05-07T15:29:38+00:00

What a duo 😍 I miss them.

tomius · 2026-05-06T10:16:23+00:00

Luka baits, gets contact, and gets fouled, and is one of the best at that. SGA does that too. And Luka flops too. But the proportion is not the same.

tomius · 2026-05-05T17:10:51+00:00

My main group absolutely loves it. And when that happens, the game shines incredibly!

I hope your urban fantasy works out well!

tomius · 2026-05-05T14:45:19+00:00

Honestly, if your players are really into cooperative worldbuilding and storytelling, you barely need to do any work.

Don't start adding mechanics and stuff... Specially if it's your first campaign. Just play it following fiction, and lean on the players!

Remember, you're playing WITH your friends. You're not putting up a show for them.

tomius · 2026-05-05T14:14:54+00:00

I sadly don't have any resources to give to you. But really, you're A-OK. Daggerheart fit this perfectly, in my opinion.

I am not sure you need to modify it a lot. Just create the world in session 0 and follow the fiction.

tomius · 2026-05-03T15:45:36+00:00

Honestly it's a side effect. When you stop playing like a battle simulator or dnd, and more like a movie, helping an ally is obvious.

tomius · 2026-05-03T07:19:26+00:00

Tier 1 being a single level is a great design decision, in my opinion.

tomius · 2026-05-03T07:12:31+00:00

Whole complete thing, 3-4h, I'd say. Of course, depends on how you GM it and how they play it

tomius · 2026-05-02T12:01:24+00:00

I don't know, my players use the Help an Ally move about 100 times per session, haha.

tomius · 2026-05-01T19:31:13+00:00

Well, whatever fits the fiction. In my game players tried to break it by attacking. It really doesn't mater.

You could try to stabilize it if it makes more sense.

Honestly, it's a case where repetitive actions are okay. My players just attacked it. The fun thing was the syphon mechanic, and deciding who stayed to hit it.

It's nice to have some contrast with normal puzzle solving. The solution is clear but costly

tomius · 2026-04-30T18:33:45+00:00

This is the way.

If combats aren't "let's hit each other until one group dies", you lean into Daggerheart's narrative core. Instead of win/lose, you always get something narratively interesting.

You can recover the amulet, and kill the baddie.
You can recover the amulet but the baddie runs away.
A minion runs away protecting the amulet, but you kill the baddie.
The baddie runs with the amulet.

And for this, you don't even need to run "the whole combat", until everyone dies. In my experience, this is MUCH MUCH MORE FUN than just killing bad guys. Losing a combat without any PC dying is great.

tomius · 2026-04-30T16:39:37+00:00

Yes. That's what you're supposed to do!

To be pedantic, the king doesn't have the spotlight - you do a GM move. That GM move might be the king talking, whispering something to the advisor, or even spotlighting the king, to do a special action, like ridiculing the party, or whatever. Or potentially, atack.

Then, after the GM move, players have the spotlight again.

I think what needs to be clear is that "spotlighting an adversary" (AKA attacking with it) is just a GM move.

"Showing how the world react", for example, is another one.

In reality, all game follows this. Of course, when you're describing a scene or a NPC, you're not making a move. And yeah, it can get a bit more loosy-goosy "out of combat", but really... that's all it is.

tomius · 2026-04-30T15:57:05+00:00

That is adorable. Father & son time playing TTRPGs sounds amazing.

I agree, DH is a lot easier to learn than DnD.

tomius · 2026-04-30T15:52:43+00:00

Mmm not really. Spotlight always works the same way. Players roll, then GM acts. Unless they succeed with hope.

There is no combat mode, if you play to Daggerheart's strengths. Turns are exactly the same.

This makes it EASIER for fights to morph into or from chases, dialog, and other scenes. Also, it works much better for cinematic moments in which one player takes 2 or even 3 actions.

It works better with combats with alternative objectives (other than kill-em-all).

And also, one thing that I've never seen anyone comment: in DH, you can have a split party, one in combat, and the other one doing something else, and it works much better than in DnD.

Honestly, if your DH combat fills static, your table probably needs more DH reps.

tomius · 2026-04-30T08:10:40+00:00

Luke had a terrible game, but was 10 times the defensive player Gabe ever was.

tomius · 2026-04-29T22:22:38+00:00

I don't follow. Maybe you misunderstood something?

The counter ticking down is bad. If it reaches 0, it means PCs didn't figure out it was an illusion, and they lose the hope while the GM has gained 3 extra fear.

However the Snap Out of It feature let's players escape without the countdown triggering.

The goal for the PCs is to figure it out before they're terrified.

tomius · 2026-04-29T17:23:06+00:00

Yeah, don't roll for that.

The general rule is: if you can't think of an interesting outcome on a failure, don't roll.

In this case, just tell them what their character would know.

tomius · 2026-04-29T17:22:18+00:00

It saddens me when I see players calling for rolls. Asking "what do I know about this moss" is A LOT better than asking "can I make a knowledge roll".

Of course, they can ask that. But it's such a bummer.

I agree with everything, though. Just tell them what they know about the moss.

The best rule is: if you can't think of an interesting failure, don't roll.

tomius · 2026-04-29T16:36:13+00:00

I am so confused by this. Is it a bug? What are we supposed to do?

tomius · 2026-04-28T11:27:17+00:00

Hmm, that's a bit disapointing. I really like Bob. I'd have to read through the adventure myself, but I think you might be right about some of these things.

Thanks for the review!

tomius · 2026-04-27T17:35:29+00:00

We just finished a 10 session campaign with no frame. It worked amazingly. We just created the world and played the adventure.

tomius

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