Isaac

Daggerheart is quickly becoming my go-to system for stories I want to tell through role-playing games. If you're coming from a D&D background, some aspects of the game take some time to get used to, but once it starts making sense, I feel like the game lends itself so much more naturally to creating exciting, breathtaking, collaborative moments. This is for sure a game for those who feel held back in one way or another by some of the rules of D&D and want more freedom to express their character in creative ways!

I've been playing in a campaign with Deep Dice for a while, and it's such a good time! I love the work he's obviously put into creating an amazing sandbox world with compelling NPCs, factions, mysteries, and forbidden lore. I joined the Murder in Arabel campaign because I wanted to experience the very cool backstories he created that are custom tailored for the campaign, and it's been great! Highly recommend.

Addin is an incredible DM! He helped me get started as a brand new player in D&D, and was very patient and thorough in helping me learn the rules. One of my favorite parts about being in a long-term campaign with him was the way he created space for everyone to play the characters they wanted. The fantasy world he created felt both surprising and like it was custom created with our characters in mind. Everyone's backstories were integrated in meaningful ways, which is no small task with 5 players. I highly recommend Addin, whether you are a beginner or an experienced player.

The hype is that One Ring 2e really creates the feel of Tolkien. I couldn't agree more. Epic scope, cozy professorial aesthetic. It lends itself to sandbox campaigns, because the resources available for the Loremasters are mostly just parts: locations, adversaries, magic wondrous items, group patrons. So the GM really has to do the work of crafting a group story, but if the players are good at creating their own goals and agendas, then the campaign is going to be phenomenal. The game really shines in character creation and travel, but I think one of the coolest mechanics of the game is Shadow points, which functions kind of like Sanity in Call of Cthulhu. Each character gets a Shadow path, and depending on how they roll on resistance to sorcery, horror, or temptation, they might end up with kind of spiritual effects that lead them further down the dark path of succumbing to the Shadow. You can recover from the Shadow through the power of your Fellowship! I'm sure you can see how fun that can be for the right players.

As a way to learn the game, LMoP is hard to beat! The starter encounter is one of the best ways to learn D&D combat I've encountered. If a group wants to start playing D&D, and they've never played before, I would absolutely recommend this module. As a full campaign, the DM will need to do a bit of work to make it come together. The enemy factions are very thin as written, so plan on doing some narrative alchemy. There are also fantastic resources on YouTube to make this a great campaign.