Shadowheart...Daggerdark [+]

[overgeeked]

The [+] is to keep things positive and prevent the same already tired arguments about Daggerheart and Shadowdark. There are plenty of other threads to hate on games and play styles you don’t like.

Now, on with the thread...

I think Daggerheart and Shadowdark solve so many of D&Ds current problems, that the unholy love child of all 3 just needs to exist.

I think it's a great idea. Worthy of its own thread. So here goes.

What bits and pieces would you want from an unholy combination of D&D, Shadowdark, and Daggerheart?

 

[Reynard]

Definitely the Shadowdark adventure and dungeon creation tools. Assuming you built the game to work with exploration and location based adventures, it would definitely support the play to fine out ethos of DH.

Plus, i am not sure exactly how you would do it, but I feel like you could marry the issues of darkness in SD with hope and fear in DH. Maybe the hope die shrinks in the darkness and the fear die shrinks in the light? You would need a modifier to the roll to make sure the total values remained the same though.

 

[Seramus]

Does a + Shadowheart thread have white hair?

 

[Scribe]

What bits and pieces would you want from an unholy combination of D&D, Shadowdark, and Daggerheart?

I just got back to town, I have some notes in my book, I'll add tonight.

 

[Agamon]

My friends are more Karlach [+] or Astarion [+], but I'm most definitely a Shadowheart [+]

 

[overgeeked]

For me, I think it would be a pretty quick check list. Set them side-by-side and pick how each game handles a thing. Smooth out any trouble from there. I’m not sure 5E itself would get much representation beyond the influence it had on Shadowdark and Daggerheart.

 

[Scribe]

For me, I think it would be a pretty quick check list. Set them side-by-side and pick how each game handles a thing. Smooth out any trouble from there. I’m not sure 5E itself would get much representation beyond the influence it had on Shadowdark and Daggerheart.

OK, at the high level.

Shadowdark
Reactions, Random Encounters, XP system (Downtime, not just Carousing), Darkness Matters, the concept that you are your class at level 1, Gear slots. Roll to Cast. Background and assumed skills.

Daggerheart
Ancestry and Community design, the Hope/Fear mechanic as it pertains to spotlight, initiative as free-form, 2d12 resolution instead of the d20. Domain abilities as Feats. Stress.

I think, I would even go for the Threshold and Armor/HP model over the bags of HP. But I'm rolling that one around.

D&D
Core Ancestry options, Classes, Attributes, Subclasses at 1st. Adv/Disadvantage. Planar, Epic, Magical tone.

 

[Scribe]

Oh, and it would be called Daggers and Darkness lol

 

[Bill Zebub]

I haven't even read Daggerheart so I don't know what I would keep from that, but maybe my favorite thing from Shadowdark is the casting mechanics. I almost never play D&D casters because I hate spell slots so much. Shadowdark made me enjoy casters again.

Second thing from Shadowdark would be no darkvision, along with the "attack the light" ethos.

From D&D, the only thing I would include is a brief mention in the Acknowledgements section.

 

[zakael19]

Have torches run on a countdown that gutters on rolls with Fear. “Attack the light” is an easy add to DH Moves (there’s a couple it can fall under - Change the Environment & Take Something), and adversary actions.

You'd probably have to do a pretty comprehensive reconsideration of what classes look like to get a fusion.