Daggerheart
Designed by Spenser Starke, Carlos Cisco, Rowan Hall, John Harper, Matthew Mercer, Alex Uboldi, and Michael Underwood
Daggerheart is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game of brave heroics and vibrant worlds that are built together with your gaming group. Create a shared story with your adventuring party, and shape your world through rich, long-term campaign play. In addition to dice, Daggerheart’s card system makes it easy to get started and satisfying to grow your abilities by bringing your characters’ background and capabilities to your fingertips. Ancestry and Community cards describe where you come from and how your experience shapes your customs and values. Meanwhile, your Subclass and Domain cards grant your character plenty of tantalizing abilities to choose from as your character evolves. Craft your unique character through the cards you choose and the story you tell, and become the hero you want to be!
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Daggerheart Reviews (7)
See what other Game Masters and players are saying about Daggerheart
I'm in love with this system. For me, draw of being a Gamemaster has never been about telling my intricate stories -- it's about the story that we find as we go. That's where the magic of what I do shines, and Daggerheart puts that experience front and center. The mechanics are there to tell a story, but without loosing things like big critical hits, edge of your seat tension, and the pleasure of having a fistful of different dice at your fingertips. Come one, come all, because Daggerheart is for y'all!
I fell in love with Daggerheart from the moment I opened the Open Beta document. The way the game feels familiar yet refreshing, the intuitive design that just feels right, and, of course, the gorgeous art – I became, and to this day am, enamored with this game. It ticks all the right boxes for me. I have run it through the entire cycle of the Open Beta versions and even in the final, closed pre-release playtest. On that note, the way developers communicated with the community and allowed us to actively contribute to shaping the game is amazing and should be applauded. Daggerheart is a dynamic, cinematic, medium-crunch, narrative-first game that is primarily built for heroic fantasy but is flexible enough to be adapted to other genres. It gives you so many options to explore, while also leaving a lot of areas open so that you can fully express your creativity. Absolutely recommend giving it a go! You might just find yourself a new favorite game.
Fresh take on mechanics. Teamwork baked in, build options are fun and flavorful. The card system helps simplify yet provide flexibility in creating a character. Fun to play and fun to run! (Review based on playtest content, so there was areas that needed tweaking at the time. Great news is, development was transparent and open to community feedback.) Update: The full version is out and it is a fabulous addition to the hobby. Demiplane is an excellent tool as well with Daggerheart, and I'm looking forward to VTT implementations. I'm most excited by the mechanics of environments and the beauty of campaign frames.
I was a 5E preacher until our GM (Hi GM OddSquirrel!) got us to try Daggerheart out. We've been at it for almost a year I think. I love it! I love how it allows for more creativity inside and outside of combat for both the GM and the players. Its easy to understand and you're not expected to do a bunch of dice math. Will definitely keep playing this Game System.
Daggerheart: The Birth of a New Era Daggerheart storms onto the scene, the proud child of classic fantasy RPGs and narrative-driven systems like PBTA. Forged by Darrington Press, it merges bold storytelling with the heroic grit of traditional sword-and-sorcery and does so with remarkable finesse. At its core is a brilliant 2d12 system: Hope and Fear dice that weave tension into every roll, making victory and failure feel equally alive. Here, characters aren’t just stats, but living legends shaped by evocative traits and bonds, breathing real emotion into every battle, every choice. Drawing deeply from PBTA’s narrative spirit but built for the sweeping epic of classic fantasy, Daggerheart keeps the action fast, emotional, and meaningful. Character creation is fresh and mythic, blending ancestry and community roles into something larger than life and deeply personal. Combat is swift and sharp, but story always leads. Every mechanic fuels the narrative, turning even setbacks into legendary moments. And with its open license, Daggerheart invites players to not just tell stories but build new worlds together. Verdict: Daggerheart is the future of heroic fantasy roleplay — fast, heartfelt, and boundless. A new saga begins.
How to play Daggerheart
When it’s time for the game mechanics to control fate, players roll one HOPE die and one FEAR die (both 12-sided dice), which will ultimately impact the outcome for your characters. When Hope die is higher, you also take Hope to power future abilities and turn the tide in your favor! If the Fear die is higher, the game master takes Fear, which they’ll use to challenge the characters and richly complicate your narrative. This duality between the forces of hope and fear on every hero drives the unique character-focused narratives in Daggerheart.
Frequently asked questions about Daggerheart
Explore Daggerheart Classes
Bard
As a Bard, you know how to get people to talk, bring attention to yourself, and use words or music to influence the natural world around you.
Druid
As a Druid, you are a force of nature, preserving the balance of life and death by channeling the wilds themselves through you.
Guardian
As a Guardian, you run into danger to protect your party, keeping watch over those who might not survive without you there.
Ranger
As a Ranger, your keen eyes and graceful haste make you indispensable in tracking down enemies and navigating the wilds.
Rogue
As a Rogue, you have experience with sidestepping the law and dealing with the underbelly of society, preferring to move quickly and fight quietly.
Seraph
As a Seraph, you have taken a vow to a god that helps you channel sacred arcane power to keep your party on their feet.
Sorcerer
As a Sorcerer, you were formed and shaped by the will of the arcana, and you’ve learned how to wield that power to get what you want.
Warrior
You run into battle without hesitation or caution, knowing you can strike down whatever enemy may stand in your path.
Wizard
As a Wizard, you’ve become familiar with the arcane through the relentless study of tomes and scrolls.