Starting Daggerheart campaign. Any pitfalls?

[Vael]

Cosign on the importance of Stress. I actually think stamina potions are actually more important than healing potions. Oh, and be sure to use consumables proactively, this isn't 5e where it's often valid to wait until a PC falls before using a potion.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Don't be afraid to spend actions on trying to inflict conditions (knocking the enemy over, etc).

I would slightly counterweight this by saying don't get obsessed with it. The Katari in our group kept trying to use Retracting Claws to inflict "free" Vulnerable before attacking and then rolling with Success with Fear so I immediately got the spotlight, and it's like well, obviously the enemy will then use that spotlight to ditch the Vulnerable so we just together achieved exactly nothing except me gaining a Fear!

Cosign on the importance of Stress. I actually think stamina potions are actually more important than healing potions. Oh, and be sure to use consumables proactively, this isn't 5e where it's often valid to wait until a PC falls before using a potion.

Agree on both points. It's important to explain Death moves trigger when you fill all the HP boxes, there's no delay or anything like with D&D.

Stress is valuable, don't burn it all at once. Or do! I'm not your mother!

100% yup.

 

[Agamon]

No, I'm not among the people I'm worried might lose interest if their first experience with the game is extra frustrating. However, yes, I certainly would rather have an enjoyable experience than a non-enjoyable one. I will be sharing advice from this thread with the rest of my group.

My point was simply that I am not in charge, so that advice about allowing re-specs isn't especially pertinent. I of course can advocate for this option, and I think the GM (a longtime co-GM whom I've gamed with for decades) would be amenable to it. However, even there, some momentum could be lost if the initial character idea was a bust.

I'm not seeing anything that looks obvious from reading the rules, either, but as you say sometimes it needs play before they really stand out.

It might be worth talking about this in the session zero, or perhaps even before that. Just bring up your concerns and how the GM intends to potentially deal with these problems.

 

[overgeeked]

The druid does look to be overpowered but not dramatically so. The codex domain is a bit out there, too, as you get three powers per card instead of one, but the classes that get it have less starting HP. I haven't seen any trap choices yet, but I'm the referee not a player.

From what I've seen at the table you don't want to focus on only spending hope or stress. You'll want powers that do both so you don't run out. Stress is more valuable than hope. Stress is generally fixed and you mostly get it back through rests, which also give the referee fear. But you get hope from something like 54% of your rolls. So if you're going to be unbalanced on resource needs, lean more on hope than stress. But hope is dice dependent, so...shrug.

As a referee to a player, please don't convince yourself to not roll the dice. I've already seen way too much of that. Yes, if you fail or roll with fear the referee gets to move and/or gains a resource. It's not the end of the world, it's all part of the game. Don't optimize yourself out of playing the game.

Also, please make an adventurer, not a coward. I've already seen way too much of that, too. The player principles are great. The first one is "embrace danger." It's first for a reason. PCs in Daggerheart are quite robust. They're tougher than equivalent 5E PCs and there's also the fact that your PC cannot die unless you decide they do. The game's default genre is superhero fantasy. Embrace danger. Your PC will be fine.

 

[FrozenNorth]

From the DM side, it’s really important to learn to pace your Fear usage.Don’t think that just because you are using enemies that generate Fear that you need to use all the Fear this fight.

 

[SteveC]

As a player, just make sure to keep everyone included in the game. In combat, vocal and dramatic players can seize more control than in traditional games because of Initiative, so watch for that and say "hey, <quiet player> what are you doing?" if the GM or other players don't.

 

[John R Davis]

The main pitfall is that it needs a lot of player input. If you are in a group where some players aren't overly interested that is the pitfall
All the pc combos do shine. The druid is a tad powerful , the one in our group is very very useful
There is a lot to it, especially if you have never played a " token" game
It can get frustrating if a player rolls garbage all session so they can't activate cool stuff

 

[Ruin Explorer]

From the DM side, it’s really important to learn to pace your Fear usage.Don’t think that just because you are using enemies that generate Fear that you need to use all the Fear this fight.

But also be aware that you get 1d4 Fear when the PCs Short Rest and 1d4 + no. of PCs when they Long Rest so try to leave at least some space to soak that up or allow PCs to have a couple of "with Fear" rolls before you have to start spending it!

It's a balance!

 

[Jacob Lewis]

One thing to keep in mind is that the most reliable way to find a system’s “pitfalls” is to encounter them with your own group. Advice from other tables can be useful as perspective, but it’s shaped by their particular mix of players, pacing, and expectations—which may be very different from yours.

Because Daggerheart is still so new, most feedback is coming from early, limited play. That means what one person sees as a frustration could be something your group enjoys, or handles easily. If you treat outside input as optional reference material rather than a checklist of hazards, you avoid the only real trap here: going into your first game expecting to run into problems you might never have otherwise noticed.

If your table can adapt on the fly, you’ll be well-equipped to address any genuine issues that come up—and you might discover some unexpected strengths in the process.

 

[Willie the Duck]

I've seen arguments that the Druid is overpowered, but no complaints about other Core classes being weak. All my players followed the class guidelines for stats and it's been fine. The School of Knowledge Wizard has really impressed me. Spending Stress to activate Experiences has proven to be very potent. I might have allowed the player a too broad an Experience, but that's fine.

Coming back to this. What about the druid is said to be overpowered (regardless of whether you agree)? Just being able to turn into animals (with a host of abilities), class abilities, or the specific Domain pairing?

As for too-broad experiences, what did you think might have been pushing it. I'm looking at some of the book suggestions (like 'survivor') and wondering if they might cover a whole lot more ground than some rather specialized ones (like 'sniper'). Likewise, I'm thinking of a rogue who does the whole "D&D 'thief'" role and trying to find an experience that covers the bases there without being too 'I want a bonus for everything I do'-ish.