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

System plays on 'the dualities of hope and fear'.

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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.
 

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Minigiant

Legend
Supporter
My Cousin: This is like some DM added every hot or cool idea from every popular RPG to his 5E game without creating whether they mesh well.
 

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I am seeing a lot of claims that this game is just a pile of pastiche that wasn't well-considered and conscientiously integrated into a functional game engine. That may very well be true...and that would suck (I can't stand that approach whether its TTRPGs design and play, movies/books/fiction authoring, CRPG design, or engineering projects of any variety). But I have no idea at this point. I'll have a better opinion in probably 3.5 months when I have a few months of running the game under my belt.

What I'm wondering is whether these claims are just partisan reflex or inference-from-reading or informed from actual playtesting the materials?
 

Arilyn

Hero
I am seeing a lot of claims that this game is just a pile of pastiche that wasn't well-considered and conscientiously integrated into a functional game engine. That may very well be true...and that would suck (I can't stand that approach whether its TTRPGs design and play, movies/books/fiction authoring, CRPG design, or engineering projects of any variety). But I have no idea at this point. I'll have a better opinion in probably 3.5 months when I have a few months of running the game under my belt.

What I'm wondering is whether these claims are just partisan reflex or inference-from-reading or informed from actual playtesting the materials?
So far it does seem that people who have played Daggerheart come away pretty happy. It'll need some fine tuning for sure and the creators want playtesters to push the game hard to expose breaking points. I'm feeling pretty optimistic but we'll have to wait and see. Just hope gamers can differentiate a well designed game from personal preferences.
 

Tymophil

Explorer
It seems that the biggest problem so far is the amount of Fear points that the system generates, and the amount of work it puts on the Game Master.
Can I suggest to replace 2d12 by 1d12 for Hope plus 1d10 for Fear? Moreover, I would not give Hope for critical rolls.
Probabilities : Fear point 45/120, Hope 65/120, Critical 10/120.
 

TwoSix

Master of the One True Way
It seems that the biggest problem so far is the amount of Fear points that the system generates, and the amount of work it puts on the Game Master.
Can I suggest to replace 2d12 by 1d12 for Hope plus 1d10 for Fear? Moreover, I would not give Hope for critical rolls.
Probabilities : Fear point 45/120, Hope 65/120, Critical 10/120.
I haven't playtested yet to determine if this is actually a problem.

But, if I wanted to make the Hope/Fear currency gain go slower, I would change the rules such that only a Failure can grant Hope, and only a Success can grant Fear. It encourages players to eschew easy checks, and try more hard checks, and serves as a negative feedback mechanism to control pacing.
 

Aldarc

Legend
I am seeing a lot of claims that this game is just a pile of pastiche that wasn't well-considered and conscientiously integrated into a functional game engine. That may very well be true...and that would suck (I can't stand that approach whether its TTRPGs design and play, movies/books/fiction authoring, CRPG design, or engineering projects of any variety). But I have no idea at this point. I'll have a better opinion in probably 3.5 months when I have a few months of running the game under my belt.

What I'm wondering is whether these claims are just partisan reflex or inference-from-reading or informed from actual playtesting the materials?
When first I saw the list of TTRPG inspiration in Fabula Ultima, I was both excited and scared. Not because I hate the games listed - quite the opposite! - but because the list would have me worried about how it was implemented. Is it a mechanical hodgepodge or philosophical? Is there a clear vision for what sort of game it is? Thankfully Fabula Ultima comes together as an amazing game!

So when I saw a similar list of games in Daggerheart, I think that I was more concerned about players and the potential audience: do they know what sort of game DH will be or are they just expecting a 2d12 version of D&D?

I'm not quite sure if DH is the sort of game that interests me as is* but I am definitely intrigued.

* It's less about mechanics and more about class and heritage archetypes. In some ways it feels like it's trying too hard to be D&D fantasy rather than using its system to build its own archetypes that are more organic or better fits for its domain system.
 

SteveC

Doing the best imitation of myself
When first I saw the list of TTRPG inspiration in Fabula Ultima, I was both excited and scared. Not because I hate the games listed - quite the opposite! - but because the list would have me worried about how it was implemented. Is it a mechanical hodgepodge or philosophical? Is there a clear vision for what sort of game it is? Thankfully Fabula Ultima comes together as an amazing game!
I can't agree more. And yet Fabula Ultima is an example of another game that has very hot and cold reactions. I have both played and run the quick start and had a great time. It is a well-designed game that takes a lot of the same things that Daggerheart is working with. But it isn't for everyone. One of the people who played with me and is very much a trad gamer hated it. And they're going to play Daggerheart too, so I'm expecting a similar result. Time will tell, I suppose.
 


Reynard

Legend
Supporter
It seems that the biggest problem so far is the amount of Fear points that the system generates, and the amount of work it puts on the Game Master.
Can I suggest to replace 2d12 by 1d12 for Hope plus 1d10 for Fear? Moreover, I would not give Hope for critical rolls.
Probabilities : Fear point 45/120, Hope 65/120, Critical 10/120.
For clarity, are you seeing that in play, or online?
 


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