Daggerheart General Thread [+]

[Faolyn]

It gives all this advice and then it's tip for a player having trouble picking an experience in a standard battle campaign is to select their first one to make them better in combat... how is that not pushing them quite clearly towards mechanical optimization? It's weird because I agree the advice is there but then the mechanical incentives as well as the practical examples sometimes just don't align.

Well, there's still a cost to use it (it's not a free +2 all the time), and if you go for strict optimization, you're going to be missing out on using it elsewhere.

Honestly, Experiences are almost exactly like Fate's Aspects, so it's probably a good idea to read things like What Makes A Good Aspect.

 

[Imaro]

Well, there's still a cost to use it (it's not a free +2 all the time), and if you go for strict optimization, you're going to be missing out on using it elsewhere.

Honestly, Experiences are almost exactly like Fate's Aspects, so it's probably a good idea to read things like What Makes A Good Aspect.

I don't disagree that there are controls in place to lessen the impact of optimization here... I just find the narrative focus and the suggestion a strange pairing. I thunk it sends a mixed message... but I also feel critically looking at the mechanics and advice is being frowned on in this thread so I'm discussing it elsewhere for now.

 

[Aldarc]

Well, there's still a cost to use it (it's not a free +2 all the time), and if you go for strict optimization, you're going to be missing out on using it elsewhere.

Honestly, Experiences are almost exactly like Fate's Aspects, so it's probably a good idea to read things like What Makes A Good Aspect.

If I had a criticism of Experiences in Daggerheart, it's that they read a little plain and one note when compared to Character Aspects in Fate or Backgrounds in 13th Age, precisely for this reason.

"Ninja" is an okay Experience but "Silent Blade of the Shadow Clan" is better. It gives us details about the world. It tells us that the Shadow Clan exists and that the character is a member. It tells us that a Silent Blade is a rank. It can be used to interact with the world in more cases: e.g., "As a member of the Shadow Clan, I likely know..." As such, I will always recommend Experiences that flesh out the world and character in more concrete ways.

 

[Vael]

If I had a criticism of Experiences in Daggerheart, it's that they read a little plain and one note when compared to Character Aspects in Fate or Backgrounds in 13th Age, precisely for this reason.

I've already told my players that I'm treating their Experiences are a little like Character Aspects and one can spend a Hope to make a narrative declaration.

 

[Faolyn]

I don't disagree that there are controls in place to lessen the impact of optimization here... I just find the narrative focus and the suggestion a strange pairing. I thunk it sends a mixed message... but I also feel critically looking at the mechanics and advice is being frowned on in this thread so I'm discussing it elsewhere for now.

The book saying to have both a narrative and combat-focused Experience is simply a useful suggestion. This is a narrative game that, because of it having a D&D-ish flavor, also has a bit of an emphasis on combat. Someone who comes into the game wanting it to play like D&D will benefit from having a combat-oriented Experience, while someone who doesn't care about the D&Dishness won't lose out whether they take that suggestion or not.

"Ninja" is an okay Experience but "Silent Blade of the Shadow Clan" is better. It gives us details about the world. It tells us that the Shadow Clan exists and that the character is a member. It tells us that a Silent Blade is a rank. It can be used to interact with the world in more cases: e.g., "As a member of the Shadow Clan, I likely know..." As such, I will always recommend Experiences that flesh out the world and character in more concrete ways.

Very much agreed. When I finally get to run a game myself, I'm definitely going to emphasize that.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

If I had a criticism of Experiences in Daggerheart, it's that they read a little plain and one note when compared to Character Aspects in Fate or Backgrounds in 13th Age, precisely for this reason.

"Ninja" is an okay Experience but "Silent Blade of the Shadow Clan" is better. It gives us details about the world. It tells us that the Shadow Clan exists and that the character is a member. It tells us that a Silent Blade is a rank. It can be used to interact with the world in more cases: e.g., "As a member of the Shadow Clan, I likely know..." As such, I will always recommend Experiences that flesh out the world and character in more concrete ways.

This is actually very close to what’s written in the Daggerheart Core Rulebook—page 20 lays it out directly in the “Creating Your Experiences” section, which is treated as a major step in character creation.

"You are also encouraged to add flavor to your character's Experience to give it more varied use in play. For example, instead of just Assassin, you could choose Assassin of the Sapphire Syndicate. Details like this give your GM an exciting faction to weave into the campaign, and also make it easier to use this Expertise outside of combat."

What stands out to me is how the book frames this kind of advice. It’s not presented as the “best” way or a default you’re expected to follow. It’s framed as encouragement—offered with the understanding that different tables will prioritize different things. And that flexibility is matched by stability. The system holds together whether your Experience is a single word or a fully embedded narrative hook.

That freedom is intentional—but so is the guidance. The rulebook consistently nudges players toward choices that deepen play, connect characters to the world, and expand what they can do—but it never insists. That kind of openness is built into the system. It doesn’t penalize simplicity or gate meaningful play behind clever phrasing. It trusts players to decide what kind of game they want to create, and gives them the support to do it well.

 

[zakael19]

I ran a little extemporaneous one-shot for my Tuesday night group, since one of our players couldn’t make it & we’re hitting the end of our arc/game in our usual FITD thing. Had a great time, due to the limits of short one shot play I wanted to make threats interesting and reskinned the Minor Demon into a being of shadow and crystallized blood as their first encounter.

From that I can confirm that solo-solos aren’t going to threaten a group of even 3 with loss/failure, but do make an interesting “elite” style single monster with fun mechanics + moderate tension. I didn’t always remember to trigger the Demon’s “drain a hope away when the players fail with fear” but when I did it felt great. Always fun when mechanics & theme align like that.

That group had already been playing 1 shots of DH together (in fact one of the players is who ran the demo scenario for the rest of us a couple months back), and we’ve agreed we’re going to switch to this next. They seemed pretty enthused with the rough sketch of the modern urban fantasy framework I’ve done so far so we’ll give that a shot!

 

[overgeeked]

From that I can confirm that solo-solos aren’t going to threaten a group of even 3 with loss/failure, but do make an interesting “elite” style single monster with fun mechanics + moderate tension. I didn’t always remember to trigger the Demon’s “drain a hope away when the players fail with fear” but when I did it felt great. Always fun when mechanics & theme align like that.

The encounter math could give you two solos and be a slightly harder than normal fight. Your budget is 11 and that fight would cost 12.

But yeah, the solos not being solos still bugs me.

 

[Faolyn]

From that I can confirm that solo-solos aren’t going to threaten a group of even 3 with loss/failure, but do make an interesting “elite” style single monster with fun mechanics + moderate tension. I didn’t always remember to trigger the Demon’s “drain a hope away when the players fail with fear” but when I did it felt great. Always fun when mechanics & theme align like that.

I think that the monster roles were mis-named. Solos probably should have been called Elites. Minions are not always the minions of someone else--they're just really glass weapons (not always cannons). There's non-Leaders with leader abilities, and some Leaders who barely have them. There's some Supports I can't tell what or how they're supporting anyone. And I'm not sure how dire wolves are Skulking around; they seem more like Bruisers to me.

So I guess just take the names with a grain of salt?

 

[Vael]

I think, though this is a guess after only one session and some theory crafting, that a phased solo like the Volcanic Dragon can fit the bill as a legit solo threat. But normal solos are more like 4e elites.