RPG: ‘Critical Role’s ‘Daggerheart’ Is Finally Here — Now Hope & Fear Are In YOUR Hands
Critical Role‘s Daggerheart RPG launches today, giving d12s the world over their time in the spotlight at long last.
Daggerheart, the new fantasy tabletop RPG from Critical Role‘s Darrington Press, launches today. Meaning that, as of press time, you can find your own copy of the Daggerheart Core Set out in the wild, if you know where to look. Basically, Critical Role‘s webstore, DriveThruRPG, Demiplane, your Friendly Local Game Store, or any of the Darrington Press Guild Stores that may be near you. You’ll find all the links within.
This release is a huge move by the publishing imprint of the Critical Role behemoth. Daggerheart promises a deep, character-focused game that offers up campaign play with a hefty dose of d12s for good—and for ill.
Critical Role‘s Daggerheart Arrives With A Whole New System For Fantasy Roleplay
What is Daggerheart? It’s a fantasy RPG, sure, but it’s also Critical Role‘s next big foray into the tabletop space. I have little doubt that people will soon be comparing Daggerheart to D&D—and it’s not an unheard of comparison. They both tell fantasy adventure stories; Critical Role is one of the biggest names in tabletop, and D&D is the continental shelf upon which the rest of the industry rests.
But for now, Daggerheart has just arrived. The plastic sealing on the new boxed set is still freshly unwrapped. I’ve barely had time to dive in, so let’s just cover the basics—you can look forward to a deeper dive from BoLS later this week.
d12s are at the heart of Critical Role‘s new RPG. One of the big drivers of the system is the narrative impact and excitement of rolling a die and getting to take a little bit of control of the story. The Hope & Fear dice are a means of adding some narrative stakes to any roll. You roll both, and whichever one is higher gives either you or the GM some fun things to play with. Hope fuels your own abilities, while Fear is the GM’s special make it harder currency.
“Daggerheart is a heroic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game designed for narrative-driven play. Punctuated by fast-paced and dynamic combat, the system’s collaborative tools encourage everyone at the table to be a storyteller.
When it’s time for the game mechanics to control fate, players roll one Hope die and one Fear die (both 12-sided dice) to determine the outcome. When the Hope die is higher, you also gain Hope to power future abilities and turn the tide in your favor! If the Fear die is higher, the game master gains Fear, which they’ll use to challenge the characters and richly complicate the narrative. Every choice matters as the adventure hangs in the balance between hope and fear!”
And that’s just one part of the system. There’s also a broad card-based system for creating and levelling up your character. You can really define what you do in the world with the right cards. There’s a lot for crunchy build-oriented players to bite into.
All in all, it’s exciting stuff that I can’t wait to dig further into. And if you can’t either, you can check out Daggerheart at the links below!
Daggerheart is out now in select stores but heads for wider retail June 3rd if you can’t find it near you!
