Daggerheart Release Date Revealed

Daggerheart will be coming out on May 20th. Today, Darrington Press, the games publishing arm of Critical Role, announced that its upcoming TTRPG would come out on May 20th. The game will first release at local game stores, followed by a wider release at all stores that games are sold (i.e. book stores) on June 3rd.

Daggerheart is built around a Duality Dice system that uses 2d12 (one designated as the Hope die, and the other designated as the Fear die). On checks, players roll both dice and add the results to determine the ultimate success or failure of a roll, with the higher die result representing either a positive or negative narrative twist both in and out of combat. The game also uses a character sheet that includes overlays and cards to show character abilities.

While Daggerheart is a high fantasy TTRPG, the game also includes campaign frames that provide specific worlds to encounter and adds additional rules based on the type of story being told. The core rulebook will include six campaign frames, including Beast Feast, a "cozy cooking and dungeoneering campaign frame" clearly inspired by Delicious in Dungeon and a post-apocalyptic world of technological wonders called Motherboard.

 

[Cergorach]

What's the issue with the quality of Daggerheart?

That is the problem with the hype, we don't know the quality of DH (besides the beta), as it's not out yet. As I said, the quality of 'B', the board games from DP, is rated mediocre to average at best. But people are acting like DH is the best thing since sliced bread.

Honestly this just smells like a anti-CR dig.

I don't like CR, I don't watch CR. But I also don't like WotC, and I don't watch WotC VLOGS. I still play D&D and I still buy D&D products for FVTT (and there are many other examples of that). So me don't loving the people behind the product doesn't stop me from buying and playing what they produce. I honestly don't care who makes what. But who makes what does mean certain things and those things have certain effects.

What I'm extremely critical about (see what I did there ) is that an existing fanbase is 'weaponized' for their DH product. As shown, by your reaction, for example. And don't tell me you're never negative about anything or put a reality check on people... The 4 Birthright players and those that play Groghawk would like a word with you!

 

[aramis erak]

I'll be honest, Daggerheart is the most interesting of the "«BLEEP» WOTC!!!" systems for me. Not enough to buy it on launch, but maybe in April or May... my March spending is going to be Alien 2nd ed KS. And maybe PDF of Terraforming Mars (the RPG).

The real measure is "how often is the game played." And I don't think there's any way to know that, especially with games that don't require VTTs or subscriptions that can be counted.

Well, I don't care for it, but I have noticed that my FLGS has had to restock the core at least 2 times in 2024. And there's been rotation of the adventures on the shelf. and they had to restock cores in 2023, as well. For a college town, that's pretty damned good, especially given they still had D&D 4E books New on Shelf in 2019.

 

[Marc Radle]

I have no guess on how they are selling.

Kickstarter show initial sales, but after that someone would need to provide hard data.

Heck I don't even have a clue what something like DCC sells, it's been around for over a decade.

Tales of the Valiant is doing extremely well

Back to the main topic, I’m a fan of Critical Role and I really like Matt and the gang, so I wish them luck!

 

[zedturtle]

Do we know if Exandria will be one of the six campaign frames? It seems likely to me given how Campaign 3 recently ended, and to say it without spoilers, seems to be pushing the game away from the classic D&D framework...

With campaign frames being more "here is how to tweak the core rules to get this vibe for your game", I wouldn't be shocked if one of them was "how to do high fantasy fun", but with the game's emphasis on player collaboration, it is likely to be more "how to make a campaign world like Exandria", not "what is in the third closet from the left in Vox Machina's base" sort of stuff.

 

[Aldarc]

Tales of the Valiant is doing extremely well

Back to the main topic, I’m a fan of Critical Role and I really like Matt and the gang, so I wish them luck!

Glad to hear that!

 

[sevenbastard]

Tales of the Valiant is doing extremely well

Back to the main topic, I’m a fan of Critical Role and I really like Matt and the gang, so I wish them luck!

That great. I think healthy competition spurs creativity. The more options we have in fantasy rpgs the better. It would be a sad world if we only had two car companies.

Never watched Critical Role, but I feel they have the cash and popularity to put out something diffrent and do well.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

"what is in the third closet from the left in Vox Machina's base" sort of stuff.

Some of Scanlan's toys. Fingers crossed that he washed them before he put them away.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

That is the problem with the hype, we don't know the quality of DH (besides the beta)

This has to be possibly the silliest use of "besides" I've ever seen.

Unless we have reason to believe that the beta has been completely abandoned or something, then Daggerheart is, frankly, significantly better and more interestingly designed than half the games you list or more.

And I say that as no fan of Darrington/Critical Role. Indeed a slight anti-fan to CR.

So anyway we have a pretty great handle on it. Whether you like it or not, if you've played the beta, you likely have a good idea.

As for "Will it be supported in 10 years?", what does support look like? What value do you derive from what elements of it?

I've played TTRPGs for like 35 years now. Many RPGs still worth running never got supported meaningfully, some even just had one book, or were only supported for 1-2 years if that. Some RPGs published today don't really need support, either, they work well enough from the corebook that they don't actually need anything else. Some even get a bit worse with additions. Support in many cases is more about supporting the writers/publisher than requiring the actual products - I mean, you mention Spire/Heart, and if neither had got any first-party support products, both would be completely fine and still absolutely worth playing. Same for 20th Anniversary oWoD stuff.

HOWEVER there is one major issue with Daggerheart re: support which I do think is worth worrying about - it's the same as with Legend in the Mist, and that is that the game uses cards to play, and uses play-mats instead of conventional character sheets. You can work around that, but that's the intended mode of play, and it's not something that's necessarily easy to substitute for with POD or printing at home or the like. Games which use "weird dice" also have this problem. But that's a more general concern that applies to a huge swathe of modern RPGs.

 

[Tbiafore]

I'm not sure I understand the point of the hostility here. Of course, you don't have to be excited for it, but why bother trying to throw cold water on those that are?

Because some people have actually played the game or have another point of view. Because forums like these are not only reserved for people that want to be a CR fanboy, they actually want to give their feedback. If you dont like it, you can just move along.

 

[Reynard]

Because some people have actually played the game or have another point of view. Because forums like these are not only reserved for people that want to be a CR fanboy, they actually want to give their feedback. If you dont like it, you can just move along.

So, just to be clear, you are saying that you think that in the thread announcing the release date a much anticipated game, those that are excited about it should be the ones to just move along.

Wow, irony so powerful Alanis Morrisette burst into flames.

Also, one doesn't have to have not run Daggerheart (I have) and be a CR fanboi (I'm not) to look forward to a game that one thinks is a unique and interesting bridge between trad and narrative RPGs.