Daggerheart General Thread [+]

[aramis erak]

I'd argue if one gets into the mechanics, that is going to pull the players right out of being 'scared' (for ones definition of scared) anyway.

That's variable.

Fear of losing characters needs only emotional attachment to the characters and a clear and present threat to said characters.

More narrative inspired fear is possible, and is helped by atmosphere of the play space... but is also more reliant upon GM skill and upon player buy-in.

Then there's the issue that many horror games are not played to generate fear. They're often investigative (Chill, BTVS, CoC), sometimes erradication ephasis (Chill, BTVS)...

But a good number are also supers games in disguise, specifically VTM, MTA, WWTA, CTD, GTA... the original games of the World of Darkness...

 

[Faolyn]

More narrative inspired fear is possible, and is helped by atmosphere of the play space... but is also more reliant upon GM skill and upon player buy-in.

Yeah, you really need players who are willing to be willing to be scared--which fortunately, I do.

 

[Seramus]

But a good number are also supers games in disguise, specifically VTM, MTA, WWTA, CTD, GTA... the original games of the World of Darkness...

Also true of the more modern ones like VTR, WTF, MTAw, CTL, GTSE! The story is focused on their tragedy and pathos (for the most part), but they are quiet superpower games.

 

[Retros_x]

About 40 years ago we were playing Call of Cthulhu one night. We were up in Maine, on the coast, in a relatively small, converted boat house. There were neighbors, but definitely not anywhere near. It was dark and rainy. The GM was fantastic and, I must admit, I had moments were my heart rate was definitely faster than it should have been

Haha, that sounds amazing! What a great setting! The other sounded also cool but a lonely boat house at the coast of maine in a rainy night, sounds just right out of Lovecraft or King.

but is also more reliant upon GM skill and upon player buy-in.

I think the buy-in is the most important. Real fear is a very unpleasent experience, so you need the buy-in of players to want experience "fear" in a safe-setting.

 

[zakael19]

Two new classes & a bunch of ancestries (definitely not genasi) plus communities (Hearthborne is the official take on humble origins) up on “The Void.”

 

[overgeeked]

Two new classes & a bunch of ancestries (definitely not genasi) plus communities (Hearthborne is the official take on humble origins) up on “The Void.”

I'm glad they're putting stuff up, but I'm surprised at the pace. The core set had its limited release on 20 May and its wide release on 3 Jun. The first Void post was 20 May with two classes. The second Void post was toady (24 Jun) with two updated classes, two new classes, and a dozen communities & ancestries. From the talk from Darrington it's mostly stuff they planned but didn't complete or put in the core. I want them to support Daggerheart, but I really don't want them to churn out content. A release schedule like early 5E or slightly slower would be great...a release schedule closer to 4E would be a nightmare.

And yes, I'm fully aware that's very much cart before the horse.

 

[nyvinter]

100% agreed about the pace.

But I also wonder if they've learned some from their own playtest and how WotC do theirs — it's better to have things be playtested for a while rather than a month or two before print. Especially if it has a whole new domain. So this is playtest for a book that comes out next year.

 

[overgeeked]

100% agreed about the pace.

But I also wonder if they've learned some from their own playtest and how WotC do theirs — it's better to have things be playtested for a while rather than a month or two before print. Especially if it has a whole new domain. So this is playtest for a book that comes out next year.

I really hope there's that kind of lead time.

 

[Faolyn]

I'm glad they're putting stuff up, but I'm surprised at the pace. The core set had its limited release on 20 May and its wide release on 3 Jun. The first Void post was 20 May with two classes. The second Void post was toady (24 Jun) with two updated classes, two new classes, and a dozen communities & ancestries. From the talk from Darrington it's mostly stuff they planned but didn't complete or put in the core. I want them to support Daggerheart, but I really don't want them to churn out content. A release schedule like early 5E or slightly slower would be great...a release schedule closer to 4E would be a nightmare.

And yes, I'm fully aware that's very much cart before the horse.

But I also wonder if they've learned some from their own playtest and how WotC do theirs — it's better to have things be playtested for a while rather than a month or two before print. Especially if it has a whole new domain. So this is playtest for a book that comes out next year.

I'm guessing that at least some of this stuff was in the works ahead of time and maybe they got cut for space reasons. Except for the Witch, everything is something that's also in 5e.

Hmm. I just thought of this: maybe they are planning on either switching Critical Role to DH, or having a long-term DH stream when they're done with their current one, and need this material for that. That could still be quite a ways in the future, giving them lots of playtest time.

 

[overgeeked]

I keep coming back to monster design and comparing it quite favorably to D&D 4E. I do really want something like Blog of Holding's MM on a Business Card for Daggerheart.

Looking at the encounter math, you cold always opt for the +1d4 or static +2 damage to monsters to get 3xPCs battle points. Then looking at the available monsters that's one leader per PC. I wonder if anything would break if you threw a group of leaders at the PCs? Maybe that's Daggerheart's version of "just use a bear." Just use a leader.