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Daggerheart

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!

Themes

Fantasy
Imaginative

Details

3-6 Players
d12 System

Release Date

May 20th, 2025

Daggerheart Reviews (3)

See what other Game Masters and players are saying about Daggerheart

Lard Chunks avatar

Lard Chunks

New review

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.

Jason Richardson avatar

Jason Richardson

New review

Ran 67 sessions

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.

Bryan/OddSquirrel avatar

Bryan/OddSquirrel

New review

Ran 104 sessions

Daggerheart is what you get when the folks at Critical Role make a game to suit their play rather than the other way around. This system excels at collaborative, emergent roleplay, allowing both the GM and players to lean into what matters the most - the story - while standing on a strong foundation of interesting mechanics and a vast array of character creation options. I have been running Daggerheart several times every week since it entered open beta, and it has fully surpassed everything else as my favorite way to play and GM. Never FEAR: Daggerheart has something to offer those who want to swing daggers as well as those who wants to capture hearts; it's everything I could HOPE for.

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 image

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 image

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 image

Guardian

As a Guardian, you run into danger to protect your party, keeping watch over those who might not survive without you there.

Ranger image

Ranger

As a Ranger, your keen eyes and graceful haste make you indispensable in tracking down enemies and navigating the wilds.

Rogue image

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 image

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 image

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 image

Warrior

You run into battle without hesitation or caution, knowing you can strike down whatever enemy may stand in your path.

Wizard image

Wizard

As a Wizard, you’ve become familiar with the arcane through the relentless study of tomes and scrolls.

Virtual table tops for Daggerheart (VTTs)

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