What do YOU plan on doing with Daggerheart?

[aramis erak]

Yeah, I’m aware that the preponderance of 5e leveling has switched to GM fiat / milestone. Been there, done that. I’m just saying that compared to all the other frameworks of narrativist play here this is the most GM authority bit. I can see why you can’t do individual leveling like in a PBTA due to combat balance being a thing here, but I’m contemplating either Quest / encounter based XP like 4e used, or some sort of group iterative end of session track where each player’s answers to the personal questions give a chunk towards getting the group a level.

My problem is more conceptual, since I often have players miss due to tests or family drama.

 

[overgeeked]

@overgeeked, I think a psionic domain (Thought?) should be made and then used to replace Codex, thus turning wizards and bards into psionicists. Maybe some of the Codex cards could still be used, but it might be better to build it from scratch.

Well, both wizards and bards still exist in Dark Sun so you’d still need them. It would likely be easier to make a psionic domain.

I’m not sure if there should be an elemental domain or domains or not, or if a new elemental subclasses should be made. Or both.

Could do. The sorcerer sort of has the innate power and elemental theme down.

I’m always more a fan of reskinning as much as possible.

I like your defiling idea a lot!

Thanks.

 

[dbm]

This sounds like the job for a campaign frame, where characters with powers choose from being a psionicist or a defiler (I think there is a third option? Haven’t played Dark Sun).

The campaign frame rules would define what happens when you use a power based on your type. How defiling works, and any limitations on psionics which stop them being the obvious choice in all circumstances.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

My problem is more conceptual, since I often have players miss due to tests or family drama.

That's the best use case for DM fiat/milestone levelling though, isn't it? That's one of the reasons we adopted it in 4E.

That's also one of the major reasons it's become so popular.

Likewise with the intentional vagueness re: how often they should level - by making it DM fiat/milestone, you can control the experience there. You're not bound by some generic assumption some guy half a world a way made about how campaigns would be run. I genuinely don't think it's helpful to distinguish between levelling every 5 sessions vs every 7 or w/e as a "default", because how long even is a session? Few games define it - the closest I've seen recently is that Outgunned Adventure seemed to define it as like, 2-4 hours, and noted that if you played a long day of gaming, it should probably count as more than one "session".

 

[Faolyn]

I've also noted that the primary weapons increase damage by 3 per tier, secondary by 2. the specialty weapons at tier 2 don't appear on tier 3/4, and the specialty ones on tier 3 don't appear on Tier 4...

I’m guessing it’s the equivalent of D&D’s rare/very rare/legendary tiers of magic items, so there wouldn’t be improved versions.

I’m still not 100% sure if regular weapons automatically upgrade with you when you go up a tier, or if you have to replace your regular broadsword with an Improved broadsword. On the one hand, it’s cool to have your weapon become greater along with you. On the other hand, it puts me in mind of video games like Terarria where you start with a copper sword and have to forge a silver sword, then a gold sword, and so on as you do more mining.

 

[Scribe]

Which leaves defiling. Thinking about it a little bit I believe I've landed on what's my favorite solution for this. When you need to spend Hope or mark Stress to use an appropriate magical ability, you can instead defile the area around you. The size depends on the amount. Radius chart for Stress and double it for Hope. You're literally causing Stress to the landscape or draining Hope from the world around you.

 

[dbm]

I’m still not 100% sure if regular weapons automatically upgrade with you when you go up a tier, or if you have to replace your regular broadsword with an Improved broadsword.

That’s a table choice kind of thing. From p176:

“Some players love getting new weapons and armor, while others may have established an emotional connection to an item (for example, a family heirloom sword or armor once worn by an old friend) and want to keep it. If PCs want to keep their current weapon or armor, consider other ways they could be enhanced.”

 

[Stormonu]

As someone who started out RPGs with playing those ducks — art was a bit more Disney back then — I approve!

It will need to be playtested and all that, but this is the raccoon card. (Placeholder sketch until I draw it proper. ) View attachment 406229

Oh, gonna use this for my Burglarcat* race if anyone wants to try it in my game(s).

I'm waffling running my Crimson Empire campaign world or grabbing one of the maps in the back of the book and working with the players to flesh it out.


* Originally, they were modeled after Puss in Boots, but the artwork has essentially morphed them into Raccoonfolk.

 

[Faolyn]

That’s a table choice kind of thing. From p176:

“Some players love getting new weapons and armor, while others may have established an emotional connection to an item (for example, a family heirloom sword or armor once worn by an old friend) and want to keep it. If PCs want to keep their current weapon or armor, consider other ways they could be enhanced.”

Ah. I’ve only read the book once so I missed that!

 

[aramis erak]

That's the best use case for DM fiat/milestone levelling though, isn't it? That's one of the reasons we adopted it in 4E.

No; with my (heavily laden with neurodiverse individuals) player base, that devalues the advancement experience.

That's also one of the major reasons it's become so popular.

And yet, none of the groups I know of locally like milestone.