Agamon
Hero
I guess it depends how you play. The game I play in is in Foundry, which puts everything on the sheet. But I can certainly see a case where players might enjoy something more tactile.
Daggerheart Class Packs kickstarter is live.
- Thread starter darjr
- Start date
Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
From what I’ve seen so far, these Class Decks are essentially premium, pre-packed domain sets tied to each class. That makes them attractive to:
And it’s worth pointing out how the math actually works: each class has two domains, and each domain is shared with exactly one other class. That means if you buy every deck, you don’t just end up with “duplicates”—you actually end up with two complete sets of domains. The core set only gives you one. For some groups, that’s a real feature, not wasted overlap.
Design-wise, the core rules encourage players who share a domain to pick different abilities, preserving uniqueness and reinforcing collaboration. These decks don’t undo that principle—they just acknowledge that not all tables stick to it. Some players like having personal decks, or don’t mind ability overlap, and these products are built with that flexibility in mind.
This also means there will be plenty of fans who prefer to stick with the single core set as described, which is the clearest expression of the game’s intent and philosophy. A lower level of enthusiasm for these decks doesn’t indicate lack of enthusiasm for the game itself.
As for “premium vs. utility,” that’s a fair lens—these are clearly positioned as a premium accessory. But that doesn’t mean they lack utility. For a single player who wants to sit down with a ready-to-go deck for their whole campaign, $25 for a high-quality, oversized set is actually strong value. Buying every deck is obviously less efficient, but that’s collector territory, not table minimums.
Finally, on the “only 130% funded” angle: this isn’t the core box Kickstarter. It’s a targeted accessory line. A smaller backer pool is exactly what you’d expect, because not every player or GM needs or wants these. Funding isn’t sluggish—it’s aligned with scope.
So while this product line won’t be “must-have” for every table, that doesn’t signal weak interest in the system. It’s simply Darrington Press offering options to match different playstyles and preferences.
- players who want a dedicated deck for their class,
- groups that don’t want to share from one pool,
- fans who enjoy premium collectibles, and
- anyone who doesn’t need the extra material a second core box would include.
And it’s worth pointing out how the math actually works: each class has two domains, and each domain is shared with exactly one other class. That means if you buy every deck, you don’t just end up with “duplicates”—you actually end up with two complete sets of domains. The core set only gives you one. For some groups, that’s a real feature, not wasted overlap.
Design-wise, the core rules encourage players who share a domain to pick different abilities, preserving uniqueness and reinforcing collaboration. These decks don’t undo that principle—they just acknowledge that not all tables stick to it. Some players like having personal decks, or don’t mind ability overlap, and these products are built with that flexibility in mind.
This also means there will be plenty of fans who prefer to stick with the single core set as described, which is the clearest expression of the game’s intent and philosophy. A lower level of enthusiasm for these decks doesn’t indicate lack of enthusiasm for the game itself.
As for “premium vs. utility,” that’s a fair lens—these are clearly positioned as a premium accessory. But that doesn’t mean they lack utility. For a single player who wants to sit down with a ready-to-go deck for their whole campaign, $25 for a high-quality, oversized set is actually strong value. Buying every deck is obviously less efficient, but that’s collector territory, not table minimums.
Finally, on the “only 130% funded” angle: this isn’t the core box Kickstarter. It’s a targeted accessory line. A smaller backer pool is exactly what you’d expect, because not every player or GM needs or wants these. Funding isn’t sluggish—it’s aligned with scope.
So while this product line won’t be “must-have” for every table, that doesn’t signal weak interest in the system. It’s simply Darrington Press offering options to match different playstyles and preferences.
darjr
I crit!
Thank you for this. I still have issues with it and with some of your points but I only wanted to respond to one because I feel responsible for possibly giving misinformation.
By oversized, if you mean the cards being bigger than the core set cards, they are not. The cards are the same size.
Ah, was the size confirmed in the AMA? I'll need to watch that. If so, that's unfortunate but not the end of the world. I was really looking forward to oversized card and if they're normal sized I'm a bit less eager to go in on them despite wanting to preserve my limited edition cards.
mamba
Legend
it’s a bit of both. If the KS sat at 1M right now people would take this as a sign of popularity. Sitting at 150k then also is a sign of somewhat limited popularity, some of which can certainly be explained by playstyle preferences and price point. The question is whether all of it can.
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
I think if they had taken the opportunity to Kickstart their next big product, with the new Classes and such...they would have gotten more interest.
Vael
Legend
Even in the AMA, they admit that this isn't a typical Kickstarter, the product is more or less made. This more market research tied to a preorder. The desire is to produce a cheaper point of entry for players and the Kickstarter is more to gauge whether this would be a successful product line to commit resources to.
Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
Appreciate the clarification on card size. I had the same impression from the video, so you weren’t alone in that. Thanks for confirming it’s the same dimensions as the core set.
And yes—I agree there’s nothing wrong with having personal sticking points with a product like this. My aim wasn’t to argue away concerns so much as add another perspective to the mix, since conversations like this often narrow too quickly into a single narrative.
I do think your point about “oversized” is interesting though—if these had been a larger format or had unique visual distinction, it probably would have shifted some of the discussion toward added value rather than redundancy.
Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
I agree with you that raw numbers will always be read as a signal, but the key context is what’s actually being measured. This Kickstarter isn’t for Daggerheart itself—it’s for a niche supplement that many players didn’t ask for, don’t need, or already have functionally covered by the core set. By design, that’s a smaller pool of potential backers.
That’s why treating this campaign as a proxy for enthusiasm about the system is misleading. At most, it measures interest in premium, redundant packaging of existing components—not the health of the game.
To me, when people insist on interpreting this as evidence of weakness in Daggerheart itself, it feels less like analysis and more like confirmation bias. If the KS had blown up, people would say “look how popular the game is.” Since it’s steady but modest, the same voices call it proof of decline. That’s reading outcomes to fit a narrative, not evaluating them on their own terms.
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