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.

 

[SteveC]

So I got into the playtest (yay!) and on taking a look at the game: at first look it seems I am not the target audience. BUT when looking further, this looks like it could be fun. The visceral reaction I'm getting vibes from just doesn't make sense to me. On the surface this looks like a fun game that some of my group might like, while others (the more "trad play" types) would not. It makes me want to read more and see how things work together. I would recommend trying to join up to everyone and you can see for yourself.

Edited to add: on reading more, this looks like a very well designed and meaty game. I'd be willing to play any of the classes. It really looks like a lot of attention has been paid to it and it looks very well put together.

Now I definitely would see if D&D is your only RPG that this may be a few steps too far. But if it manages to bring new assumptions into people's gaming experience, that's great. I just have to find a way to get this to a session. I don't suppose there's a Foundry module for it?

 

[DragonLancer]

I'm really stoked for Daggerheart and that is with just what we have had so far. For someone who has been a role-player for 30+ years, Covid and a lack of TT gaming really hurt. We tried some D&D5 online during but it just wasn't the same and coming back to GMing Pathfinder, I found it a struggle. I've been playing since just to get that gaming mojo back. From finding out about Daggerheart, it has reignited my passion somehow. I'm looking forward to the playtest and have even managed to get the majority of my gaming group to give it a go once the playtest goes out.

Can't wait.

 

[SteveC]

So I've created a few characters now and I here are my thoughts. Characters are pretty interesting due to the flavor and the mechanics that make them able to do interesting things in game. With what we've seen here, the only concern I have is how many characters of a particular type will you really be able to build. The builds I did were all something I'd be willing to play in a game and I think I'd have fun with them.

If I have a criticism, it's that some of the choices you make are either combat/adventure focused and social/exploration. I really like that there are the different options, but I think it will require the GM to take note of what you've chosen to make sure you haven't made "trap" choices. You can 100% make a character who will be great in a "kick in the door" and fight monsters game, but you can also make other choices. And that's good, but if your GM isn't on the same page ... perhaps not.

Not able to talk mechanics or powers or such but this is definitely a game I would play and also run.

 

[Jahydin]

I'm really stoked for Daggerheart and that is with just what we have had so far.

What in particular are you liking?

 

[Anon Adderlan]

A few years ago I would have agreed with you. Thanks to work though, I've been around the US and always make it a point to visit the FLGS wherever I go (usually big cities). Can honestly say, almost all of them were packed with your "targeted market share demographic".

And to be clear, I'm not just talking about how drastically diverse the clientele has become, but specifically how they game too. Whenever I eavesdrop on the D&D games going on around me (I can't help it), it's clear they are not playing even remotely the same as my friends and me. "Cozier" dungeon environments, fluffy/friendly in-game banter, concern for PC and NPC feelings alike, and emphasis on "doing the right thing" is common.

Makes total sense why the market has shifted tone so drastically (to me) recently.
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Where is this?

Not able to talk mechanics or powers or such but this is definitely a game I would play and also run.

I'm actually surprised you can talk about it at all, as one of the most important aspects of an NDA is to avoid setting expectations which will not hold in the final product.

 

[DragonLancer]

What in particular are you liking?

That is a good question. As I mentioned previously, during Covid we played D&D5 online and it just wasn't for me. Coming back to PF1 I struggled with the complexity after not playing for nearly two years. I found out about Daggerheart because a youtube video was recommended a couple months where the content creator had played the playtest at Gen Con (I think it was) and they described it as a nice midway between the likes of D&D5 and Pathfinder - a simple enough system with just the right amount of complexity and potential character options. This is what grabbed my interest.

The only aspect I'm not sure on, and only because no one has properly commented on it as yet, is the combat system. In my 30+ years I have never played an RPG that didn't have a traditional initiative system, and Daggerheart looks to have some odd freeform which at the moment I struggle to get my head around.

 

[Jahydin]

Where is this?

The picture? No idea, just Googled "TTRPG Store" and chose the first image that reflected what I saw.

Where I was personally? California, Alaska, Texas, Nevada, Maryland, and Washington mostly.

 

[Jahydin]

The only aspect I'm not sure on, and only because no one has properly commented on it as yet, is the combat system. In my 30+ years I have never played an RPG that didn't have a traditional initiative system, and Daggerheart looks to have some odd freeform which at the moment I struggle to get my head around.

That sounds pretty cool to me; I'll have to check it out.

I've been doing freeform initiative for a long time now and will never go back to boring rounds. I mostly roll as normal, placing my large die so everyone can see it, then just start taking my monster turns as fast as possible. Any one who has a higher number can stop me at anytime though and take their full turn.

Honestly, makes things so much more tense and fun. Also works amazing with large groups. You should give it a shot!

 

[Anon Adderlan]

The only aspect I'm not sure on, and only because no one has properly commented on it as yet, is the combat system. In my 30+ years I have never played an RPG that didn't have a traditional initiative system, and Daggerheart looks to have some odd freeform which at the moment I struggle to get my head around.

If the system avoids explicitly ordering player turns I can see how it would give them more tactical leeway and opportunities to cooperate, as the mechanics will make sure it becomes the GM's turn eventually.

 

[bedir than]

Is the character sheet still the three pages with various cards for rules help or is it cleaner?