Critical Role's 'Daggerheart' Open Playtest Starts In March

On March 12th, Critical Role's Darrington Press will be launching the open playtest for Daggerheart, their new fantasy TTRPG/

Using cards and two d12s, the system plays on 'the dualities of hope and fear'. The game is slated for a 2025 release.

Almost a year ago, we announced that we’ve been working hard behind-the-scenes on Daggerheart, our contribution to the world of high-fantasy tabletop roleplaying games.

Daggerheart is a 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.

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. This duality between the forces of hope and fear on every hero drives the unique character-focused narratives in Daggerheart.

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.

And now, dear reader, we’re excited to let you know that our Daggerheart Open Beta Playtest will launch globally on our 9th anniversary, Tuesday, March 12th!

We want anyone and everyone (over the age of 18, please) to help us make Daggerheart as wonderful as possible, which means…helping us break the game. Seriously! The game is not finished or polished yet, which is why it’s critical (ha!) to gather all of your feedback ahead of Daggerheart’s public release in 2025.

 

[Reynard]

I play 5e as a narrative game. It works just fine.

As I said, rules don't matter. It's just the same game with different dice.

These are directly at odds. I don't mean how you play. I mean the rules system style.

What do you mean by that? Daggerheart can't do non-narrative playstyles? May or may not be true, but since I don't play non-narratively, I don't consider what it can't do relevant.

I'm beginning to think you don't know what a narrative RPG is.

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

I play 5e as a narrative game. It works just fine.

As I said, rules don't matter. It's just the same game with different dice.

What do you mean by that? Daggerheart can't do non-narrative playstyles? May or may not be true, but since I don't play non-narratively, I don't consider what it can't do relevant.

What?

I think you are using the word "narrative" in a non standard way. Your post is completely incomprehensible.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What?

I think you are using the word "narrative" in a non standard way. Your post is completely incomprehensible.

I mean it generally in the sense of "what Critical Role do". If you watch them playing this, or D&D, or Pathfinder, it's basically the same. The focus is on the performance and the storytelling, not the rules.

 

[TwoSix]

I mean it generally in the sense of "what Critical Role do". If you watch them playing this, or D&D, or Pathfinder, it's basically the same. The focus is on the performance and the storytelling, not the rules.

I generally refer to that as "performative" or "thespian" style. "Narrative" is generally used in the TTRPG space to refer to a specific style of mechanics, most often associated with PbtA derivatives.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I generally refer to that as "performative" or "thespian" style.

Whatever you call it, it seems to be what Daggerheart is all about.

 

[SakanaSensei]

Classic case of people using a similar word to mean different things. You can play D&D in such a way to focus on narrative, but it’s not going to have something like the Syndicate ability in Daggerheart where the rogue can, in play, invent an NPC and story hook for the GM to implement. That’s what is being meant as a “narrative game,” unless I’m also wrong and we’re working with three definitions!

 

[TwoSix]

Classic case of people using a similar word to mean different things. You can play D&D in such a way to focus on narrative, but it’s not going to have something like the Syndicate ability in Daggerheart where the rogue can, in play, invent an NPC and story hook for the GM to implement. That’s what is being meant as a “narrative game,” unless I’m also wrong and we’re working with three definitions!

I would agree that more focus given to player authorship tends to be a trait of narrative games.

 

[Reynard]

Whatever you call it, it seems to be what Daggerheart is all about.

Sure, but Daggerheart has rules to facilitate that performative storytelling, whereas D&D does not. It doesn't particularly get in the way, either, which is why CR has been so successful with it.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

the rogue can, in play, invent an NPC and story hook for the GM to implement

5e Backgrounds can do that, and I would generally allow it, within reason.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Sure, but Daggerheart has rules to facilitate that performative storytelling, whereas D&D does not. It doesn't particularly get in the way, either, which is why CR has been so successful with it.

"Not getting in the way" is the important part. 5e doesn't get in the way*. 4e did, which is why I bounced off it. The 1980s Ghostbusters RPG was really good at not getting in the way, since it had hardly any rules.


*Initative order can sometimes, I can see why Daggerheart is losing that, but it's not enough to be a game-changer (IMO).