Daggerheart Sold Out in Two Weeks, Has Three-Year Plan in Place

A recent interview with Business Insider revealed just how well Daggerheart did for Critical Role's Darrington Press when it first launched earlier this year. Ed Lopez, Critical Role's chief operating officer, revealed that Daggerheart sold out in two weeks. According to Lopez, Critical Role anticipated that their stock would last a year, but the game was forced to go into reprints in a hurry. "The amount of units that we ordered we thought was going to last us a year, and it lasted us literally two weeks," Lopez said. "It's a great problem, it's a Champagne problem, but it's now changing our view in terms of what this product can be."

Lopez also revealed that Darrington Press has a three-year plan in place for Daggerheart, which includes the already announced Hope & Fear expansion, which adds a new domain and several new classes and backgrounds to the game.

Lopez also spoke about the hires of Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, stating that the two would be working on both Daggerheart and D&D material for Darrington Press. "We really want their creative juices brought to the world of 'Daggerheart.' That being said, we're also doing a bunch of 'D&D' stuff, and who better to bring in than the guys who used to do it?" Lopez said.

 

[zakael19]

Reynard, how was your play experience. I have found it to be fun. But, at least in my opinion, it is fun because of our table, not the game's mechanics. There are some rough patches, but that has more to do with playstyle than actual mechanics.

I could summarize the game like this: It is an awesome system if you are at a table full of GMs, as they are used to the improv part of the game.

2 players out of the 8 I’ve got across tables have done any significant GMing. DH asks less of the player then the swathe of more narrativist games I’m also running, but it’s definitely more by default then your average person might be used to.

Maybe it’s a generational thing a bit too? Or just players adapted to different styles of table culture.

 

[zakael19]

I mean… he doesn’t have to. It’s no worse than all the ones saying it’s the best thing since code fusion. I like it, but I also think it made some odd decisions, like seraphs getting wings? So half of all healer cleric style characters can fly? The rules are fine, though.

I’m not sure anybody here has been saying it’s the best thing ever, but there’s a long-ish + thread with all the happy stuff in it already.

 

[Parmandur]

The game is mid tier at best imho and the only reason it's having such massive success is the Critical Role connection. And yes, I have played it.

I have not played it, and do not plan to pay it, but it sure seems that a number of people getting into the game are not Critters which is interesting. The platform for promotion CR has is potent, but that is not all that is going on here.

 

[zakael19]

I have not plau d it, and do not plan to pay it, but it sure seems that a number of people getting into the game are not Critters which is interesting. The platform for promotion CR has is potent, but that is not all that is going on here.

Oh I don’t think you can dispute that the CR marketing push has gotten the game out there to people who would not otherwise have looked twice. That sort of buzz spreads and then even people who aren’t critters (me, 3/4 of my in person group) hear about it and give it a shot.

I wonder how much of an effect having it on the shelf next to D&D in stuff like B&N etc has had as well.

 

[Parmandur]

Oh I don’t think you can dispute that the CR marketing push has gotten the game out there to people who would not otherwise have looked twice. That sort of buzz spreads and then even people who aren’t critters (me, 3/4 of my in person group) hear about it and give it a shot.

I wonder how much of an effect having it on the shelf next to D&D in stuff like B&N etc has had as well.

No doubt the media attention and distribution is helping, but there is more than just being "the CR game". That didn't help Candela Obscura much.

 

[Imaro]

Comon you can’t drop a line like that and not expound a little .

Curious to see if what your folks have picked out match some of my rough spots with it or are from a totally different paradigm.

Im trying to stay away from bashing daggerheart in a positive thread and ai want 5o make it clear that I am still playing and enjoying it, but a few quick ones are...

Flight... There are multiple ways to get it at Tier 1 and yet both advice and rules for dealing with it are nearly non-existent in the game. I have a Seraph and two fairies in my game so it comes up quite a bit and its pretty much all made up rulings in the moment.

The flow of Fear and Hope being tied to what you roll as well as how often rolls are called for by the GM is wonky. It can create strange issues around resource management, pacing and famine/flood of fear & hope that can create odd situations in the game that sometimes conflict with its narrative nature.

Combat per the BP system doesn't seem to be challenging... in fact without me as GM putting my finger on the scale (or a famine/flood situation with hope or fear, se above) most fights at BP cost are pretty easy...especially now that we've been playing for awhile and my players have started to get a good grasp on their abilities.

Lack of ready made GM resources in the book.... there is just a general lack of adversaries, environments, etc for a GM to use across an entire campaign. Hopefully they'll be rectifying this with the new book this year but right now.. . Its really not enough.

 

[Imaro]

We're running a DH campaign right now, and to be honest, if they made an Adventure Path, I would pick it up just to see its set up. I think it would be very interesting to see how the writing, events, and plot look in a DH adventure path. I picture the plot as being vague, with a lot of NPC character hooks and overviews of setting. Maybe a region with a big bad, but no events that lead to the big bad. Just the regions explorable areas and NPCs with tie-ins and/or through lines.

I would bet it looked very similar to a DnD style AP (but with narrative building questions that have little actual impacr sprinkled through it)... I mean we have a quick start that is the exact same style as a DnD or PF quick starr why would an AP be different?

 

[zakael19]

Im trying to stay away from bashing daggerheart in a positive thread and ai want 5o make it clear that I am still playing and enjoying it, but a few quick ones are...

Flight... There are multiple ways to get it at Tier 1 and yet both advice and rules for dealing with it are nearly non-existent in the game. I have a Seraph and two fairies in my game so it comes up quite a bit and its pretty much all made up rulings in the moment.

The flow of Fear and Hope being tied to what you roll as well as how often rolls are called for by the GM is wonky. It can create strange issues around resource management, pacing and famine/flood of fear & hope that can create odd situations in the game that sometimes conflict with its narrative nature.

Combat per the BP system doesn't seem to be challenging... in fact without me as GM putting my finger on the scale (or a famine/flood situation with hope or fear, se above) most fights at BP cost are pretty easy...especially now that we've been playing for awhile and my players have started to get a good grasp on their abilities.

Lack of ready made GM resources in the book.... there is just a general lack of adversaries, environments, etc for a GM to use across an entire campaign. Hopefully they'll be rectifying this with the new book this year but right now.. . Its really not enough.

Most of that is subjective, so valid enough! I just haven't had any issues with the combat system (we've had quite a few death moves); but I've realized that if you dont drop a "Solo" (elite) or Leader or something that has interesting Reaction Roll prompting abilities it's just as you say.

 

[Scott Christian]

I would bet it looked very similar to a DnD style AP (but with narrative building questions that have little actual impacr sprinkled through it)... I mean we have a quick start that is the exact same style as a DnD or PF quick starr why would an AP be different?

It would be different for a couple of reasons. The rules are very different in DH. I mean, the players create much of the lore and add to the setting often. That nullifies (or at least makes it difficult) to create a scene by scene paced adventure, which is what APs do. The second reason they would be different is they want it to be. From a business perspective, they want to try and differentiate themselves.

 

[Parmandur]

Combat per the BP system doesn't seem to be challenging... in fact without me as GM putting my finger on the scale (or a famine/flood situation with hope or fear, se above) most fights at BP cost are pretty easy...especially now that we've been playing for awhile and my players have started to get a good grasp on their abilities.

Based on the "nobody runs a full Adventure Day!" discourse that people engage in online for 5E...the market for "not very challenging combat but with fun dice rolling" is pretty significant.