Find out all about this new TTRPG from the minds of Darrington Press and Critical Role.
On the 20th May, we’ll see a brand new TTRPG launching known as Daggerheart. It comes from the designers at Darrington Press (publishers of some of Critical Role’s D&D books) with collaboration from Matt Mercer and Critical Role themselves.
With Daggerheart releasing in just a week, we’ve got our Pre-Orders primed to dig deep into the new RPG and give our take on this D&D challenger. For now though, I’ve been reading through the playtest materials (which you can grab for yourself at Drive Thru RPG) and other sources to give you details on exactly what Daggerheart is.
What is Daggerheart?
About Daggerheart
Category: Tabletop Role Playing Game
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Darrington Press with collaboration from Critical Roll
Release Date: 20th May 2025
Daggerheart is a fantasy TTRPG where a group of adventurers fight monsters, explore dungeons and role play their way through adventures. It combines combat and exploration with social role play and is run by a games master who controls the creatures of the world as well as determining outcomes for the group.
Of course, that all sounds quite familiar to those of us that have played D&D, Pathfinder or any of the other fantasy TTRPGs on the market. But unlike the 2 TTRPGs mentioned above, Daggerheart isn’t based on the D20 system D&D is famous for (though it does use the usual polyhedral dice) and this is part of how it intends to differentiate itself.
What makes Daggerheart different?
Where D&D tends to be quite mechanically focused, with many set outcomes, Daggerheart tends to be much more narrative focused. It’s more geared around rolls that determine how well you succeed at a given action and what the consequences of your performance in that activity might be.
This extends beyond role play and exploration, weaving its way into combat as well. One example shows a combat scenario where a spellcaster is launching spells at a group and the character is running away. She’s able to successfully evade the attacks, but her roll means that there are consequences to her success as her escape path becomes blocked.
This feels very different from the mechanics heavy style of combat we get in D&D. And perhaps this is the influence of the role play heavy style that Critical Role has made popular in the TTRPG community.
Hope and fear
Much of these narrative consequences hinge on hope and fear dice. These are both rolled when checking the success of an action. If a dice (plus whatever modifiers you have) exceeds the difficulty of the check, then you’re successful, but if your fear die is higher than the hope die, then there will be consequences despite your success. If the hope die is higher, then you can use this to fuel abilities later on.
Conversely, if you fail a check, the severity of the check is also determined by whether it’s the hope or fear dice that’s higher or lower.
Daggerheart seems to be fuelled by these spiralling effects. Hope will help you do better, but fear can just keep the problems coming.
Where is Daggerheart set?
Like in the D&D universe, Daggerheart is made up of various planes of existence known as the Core Realms.
The Mortal Realm
This includes places like the Mortal Realm. This is where most standard mortals live like Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings, plus a myriad of other species. Magic can be found here and even certain gods, especially lesser gods. Some places in the Mortal Realm have already been outlined, such as the dark forests of the Witherwild or the uneasy truce held between the nations of Five Banners Burning.
The Hallows Above
Beyond this is The Hallows Above. This is a collection of realms where the gods live. It’s normally inaccessible to mere mortals, but deities can communicate with those other Mortal Realm from their lofty planes. They can even leave their realm, though must make a great sacrifice in order to do so.
The Circles Below
The Circles Below are considered places of corruption and evil. It’s where fallen gods are banished to, with their offspring remaining trapped here. Creatures from these realms are often referred to as demons, making this much like the lower planes of D&D which includes the Nine Hells and the Abyss in its number.
The Realms Beyond
Some realms are even more inhospitable and challenging to survive. These are known as the Realms Beyond. They are generally inaccessible (but adventures might end up there), but include places like the Elemental Lands, the Astral Realm and the Valley of Death (though some do know of their existence).
It all has a vaguely D&D feel to it, even if the specific locations are different. But D&D itself borrows many concepts from other mythology, and has such a broad range of settings and planes that adventures can occur in all sorts of places. It’s obvious that the aim for Daggerheart is to give players a wide variety of locations where their adventures could be set too. As of writing though, there isn’t a wealth of lore to draw on just yet, but this may come with future releases and if the game grows in popularity.
What do you play as?
You can play as a range of species (known as ancestries) and classes, much like in D&D. Many of these will sound familiar, but some are different. I’ve listed them below for you:
All playable ancestries in Daggerheart
- Clank – Sentient mechanical beings
- Drakona – Draconic humanoids
- Dwarf
- Elf
- Faerie
- Faun – Humanoids possessing the features of a goat
- Firbolg
- Fungril – Walking mushroom people
- Galapa – Bipedal turtle-like creatures
- Giant
- Goblin
- Halfling
- Human
- Inferis – Descendents of demons, similar to Tieflings
- Katari – Feline humanoids
- Orc
- Ribbet – Frog-like humanoids
- Simiah – Anthropomorphic apes and monkeys
- Mixed ancestry
All classes available in Daggerheart
- Bard
- Druid
- Guardian
- Ranger
- Rogue
- Seraph
- Sorcerer
- Warrior
- Wizard
You can preorder Daggerheart now from the Daggerheart website.
What do you think of Daggerheart? Do you think you’ll try it? Let me know in the comments below.
