Daggerheart Discussion

[UnplayedRanger]

Nope. I don't get any assistance or ideas. They leave and that's it. Anytime I ask, it's just "whatever you want to do."
So I guess it's on me for thinking they'd have any ideas in this situation.

maybe some straightforward paizo adventure paths would be a better fit for your table? Even if run in other systems like Daggerheart. Some tables need a bit of that railroad, and would be less mental stress on yourself.

 

[Neonchameleon]

The problem with Daggerheart is that it is less generic in class design than D&D by a pretty wide margin. There are even fewer non-magical or "martial" character options, and everything has a strong implied setting.

I absolutely can not agree here. Not because I don't think there's at least some implied setting but because of how absolutely larded down D&D is in implied setting.

In terms of martial character options the obvious issue is that you may have more martial options in D&D by level 3 (I can argue either way here due to Daggerheart magic being much more liminal and less hard coded) but what options do you have after that? Either you have to multiclass or it's basically one feat every four levels unless you are a Battlemaster (or maybe another subclass). Meanwhile Daggerheart after that you pick two ticks and a domain ability at every level and at different tiers your experiences grow and change. For that matter your stats grow differently.

And overall Daggerheart domain abilities aren't as incredibly intrusive into the setting as D&D's spell slots and spell levels. And Daggerheart's hit points and armour aren't the utter nonsense of D&D's hit points.

I'm not calling Daggerheart generic by any means - but it is pretty flexible by the standards of a game that needs to have D&D (5e) fantasy as its default mode.

But the core of the game is extremely well designed and versatile. There is a lot of there there. That is why I was asking if anyone has had any luck on class and domain design. it isn't that it can't be done, just that it will take some work.

Golden Daggers is my bcurrent big Daggerheart hack to run something K-Pop Demon hunters inspired - or at least that's how it started. But it threw out a lot because it wasn't needed, added things, and now resembles a cross between Daggerheart and Blades in the Dark

 

[zakael19]

Golden Daggers is my bcurrent big Daggerheart hack to run something K-Pop Demon hunters inspired - or at least that's how it started. But it threw out a lot because it wasn't needed, added things, and now resembles a cross between Daggerheart and Blades in the Dark

Tell me more about what you've brought in from Blades...

I've already ported in a FITD style downtime frame for the long rests in my urban fantasy game, and one thing I've been leaning into more is Reaction Rolls as a trait-based "Gather Info" style thing to narrow down info to create actionable paths just like I would in a FITD. I already mentioned obstacle-forward play to create the conditions for Action Rolls (we tend to roll a lot in my games, because we're doing a lot of stuff that carries risk and drama!).

 

[Neonchameleon]

Tell me more about what you've brought in from Blades...

One page character sheets, crew sheets, injuries, some of the XP mechanics (I can't afford cards), and parts of the downtime.

The crew sheets - part of the goal is interlocking games; I've got a Persona/Buffy one on the workbench (no insight stat for teenagers) with trivial archetype conversion. And I'm also thinking of an XCrawl/DCC style.

 

[zakael19]

One page character sheets, crew sheets, injuries, some of the XP mechanics (I can't afford cards), and parts of the downtime.

The crew sheets - part of the goal is interlocking games; I've got a Persona/Buffy one on the workbench (no insight stat for teenagers) with trivial archetype conversion. And I'm also thinking of an XCrawl/DCC style.

Yeah, I’ve got a PBTA End of Session move working well for my sandbox-y game. I like handing that back off to the players.

How are you handling injuries? Are they a condition with specific clearing requirements?

 

[Tenawa]

Thanks for the link.

That is a VERY ambitious project for the team based on their bios on their Patreon. I will definitely has to see some solid previews before backing, but I wish them luck.

Hi, Tenawa / Alexander here, lead designer on The New Unknown:

We have a 41 pages Playtest / Preview. You can find it on DrivethruRPG and Heartofdaggers (or our free Patreon). A second Playtest is coming within the next two weeks (and a third until the release of TNU).

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/565603/the-new-unknown-preview-playtest-volume-1-0-heart
The New Unknown: Preview & Playtest Volume 1.0 – Heart • Daggerheart Compatible Class Options, Domains, Other Homebrew • Heart Of Daggers
https://www.patreon.com/posts/playtest-volume-153192435

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[zakael19]

I’ve started thinking about how to end encounters that descend into a fairly normal “kill em all” run in a more dramatic way. Last night we had an encounter with some Asmodeus cultists at the end of the night, and once the PCs had taken out the two Tar Devils (and halted the portal from progressing), I thought that a) fighting it out with the remaining cultists wasn’t that interesting but b) they weren’t going to run/ go quietly.

So I spent a Fear and said “as the last devil falls and [the Rogue’s] shadow daggers tear at their robes, the cultists face each other and growl out something gutteral ending in a triumphant “ASMODEUS” … and cut their throats. The blood dripping down their chests transforms into a wave of Hellish power that seeks to force you to BOW… go ahead and make Presence Reaction Rolls here…”

In retrospect I should’ve maybe attack Stress vs just damage here, but oh well!

 

[Reynard]

I’ve started thinking about how to end encounters that descend into a fairly normal “kill em all” run in a more dramatic way. Last night we had an encounter with some Asmodeus cultists at the end of the night, and once the PCs had taken out the two Tar Devils (and halted the portal from progressing), I thought that a) fighting it out with the remaining cultists wasn’t that interesting but b) they weren’t going to run/ go quietly.

So I spent a Fear and said “as the last devil falls and [the Rogue’s] shadow daggers tear at their robes, the cultists face each other and growl out something gutteral ending in a triumphant “ASMODEUS” … and cut their throats. The blood dripping down their chests transforms into a wave of Hellish power that seeks to force you to BOW… go ahead and make Presence Reaction Rolls here…”

In retrospect I should’ve maybe attack Stress vs just damage here, but oh well!

"Battle Ending Moves" would be a cool Fear feature to add to a scenario environment.

 

[zakael19]

"Battle Ending Moves" would be a cool Fear feature to add to a scenario environment.

There’s a point where just having a good idea for the mechanical space of an on-tier Fear move suffices to fill in for whatever dramatic nonsense you spit out. I’ve got a set of the numbers + mechanics always on hand to improvise stuff I need for adversaries or otherwise at call.

 

[Reynard]

There’s a point where just having a good idea for the mechanical space of an on-tier Fear move suffices to fill in for whatever dramatic nonsense you spit out. I’ve got a set of the numbers + mechanics always on hand to improvise stuff I need for adversaries or otherwise at call.

Sure. I was just thinking when you set up an environment like "Cult Ritual" it might be neat to include a move in there that specifically brings about the end of the encounter in a dramatic fashion, triggered by some victory condition besides "all the enemies are dead."