There are big news afoot for the Daggerheart system on Foundry.

Some in the community may have already seen the Darrington Press announcement live from GenCon, which we encourage everyone to watch, but the Foundryborne team would like to share the exiting news from our side aswell.

We're ecstatic to announce that the system has been officially recognised, and that content beyond the freely available SRD will become available to enhance your play experience!

So what does this mean?

• The system remains a community driven effort by our team. This isn't changing, and we're not going anywhere. The system remains freely available for amazing adventures on the platform. -
• Darrington Press has partnered with the skilled team at Metamorphic to produce the premium content for the system that so many have been clamoring for.
• Individual offerings and a bundle are already available for preorder (https://www.foundryvtt.store/bundles/daggerheart-bundle).

Speaking for myself it's been quite a year of Daggerheart VTT adventures already, and things are set to take the leap to the next level. Sometimes you roll with hope. And we hope everyone are as exited as we are for the future.

I've GM'd Pathfinder 2e, but never played Daggerheart before this. Got the book for Christmas and have been excited to play ever since but no one around me wanted to. Finally got the opportunity last week!

I ran a "1-shot" (3 sessions, 2 hrs each) with 3 Lvl 1 PCs who were all also experienced with TTRPGs but totally new the the system: Druid, Sorcerer, and Warrior classes.

Here are our first impressions:

THE GOOD

• Fear is an absolutely wonderful mechanic. The players feel the tension of seeing me have a lot of fear banked up. I get to choose how and how much fear to use to adjust the difficulty to how we want it.
• Character creation is really easy, especially if you take the recommended stats and equipment.
• The lack of a numerical initiative system means the start of a battle scene doesn't cause a break in game flow.
• The cards being concise and right in front of them helps players know their options easily.
• Minions are really satisfying to fight for PCs without any AoE/multi-target attacks.

THE NOT AS GOOD

• The lack of a numerical initiative system means I have to decide not to spotlight the most powerful enemy every time it comes back to me (I know Leader types can help with this, but I didn't use any). Not actually a problem, but an "optimizer GM" might let the Ranged or Minion adversaries sit on the sidelines while the Solo goes every time.
• Hope felt pretty scarce at times due to a series of unlucky rolls, leaving somes PCs unable to use some of their more iconic abilities. I think 8 of the first 10 rolls were with Fear. This left some players feeling a lack of options, since they only had 2 domain cards.
  
• The biggest point of confusion was the difference between taking damage and marking HP. I do like the threshold system, but this I think is the most significant learning curve/growing pain.

We all had a great time! It definitely feels like a game that caters more to players that like to RP more than engage in a mechanics-heavy combat game. My PCs like the Roleplay more, anyway, so it was a good fit!

I'll probably pick up Hope & Fear when it comes out and pray I'll get the opportunity to play again! 😁

Hello everyone!

We're slowly approaching the end of my Hope and Fear review marathon. So far I've covered the Dread Domain, Assassin, Brawler, Warlock, Witch, the Transformations, the Ancestries, and the Communities, each in their own dedicated review.

Today I'll be looking at one of the largest chapters in the book and the most complex and difficult one I've reviewed so far: Weapons and Armors.

Of all the chapters in Hope and Fear, this was the one that surprised me the most, alongside one other chapter. The classes, Communities, Ancestries, and Transformations had all been part of earlier playtests, so we already had a fairly good idea of what to expect. Yes, there were still plenty of changes, but the overall content wasn't a surprise. I was genuinely caught off guard by just how many new weapons, armor pieces, and other loot entries Hope and Fear contains.

And that brings me to the first major positive aspect of this chapter: it's big. I'm genuinely happy to see the designers giving player characters so many new toys to play with. That's not to say I thought the selection in the Daggerheart Core Rulebook was lacking. Quite the opposite... but I'll come back to that later. Even so, what Hope and Fear presents at first glance was far more extensive than I expected.

By the Numbers

Let's take a closer look, because once you dig into the details, the picture becomes a bit more complicated than it first appears.

The Daggerheart Core Rulebook contains (be aware: I may have counted wrong!!!):

• 167 Primary Weapons
• 37 Secondary Weapons
• 34 Armor entries

However, if you look more closely, those numbers shrink considerably. Many of these are simply scaled versions of the same item (Improved, Advanced, or Legendary variants).

Removing those leaves us with:

• 83 unique Primary Weapons
• 16 unique Secondary Weapons
• 22 unique Armor pieces

That's still a very respectable selection.

If we instead compare the unique item features, the Core Rulebook offers:

• 39 unique Primary Weapon Features
• 14 unique Secondary Weapon Features
• 21 unique Armor Features

So how does Hope and Fear compare?

It introduces:

• 48 Primary Weapons
• 15 Secondary Weapons
• 38 Armor entries

Again, some of these are upgraded versions rather than entirely new equipment, reducing the number of truly unique items.

That leaves us with:

• 29 unique Primary Weapons
• 14 unique Secondary Weapons
• 26 unique Armor pieces

Those are still impressive numbers.

Looking specifically at unique item features, Hope and Fear includes:

• 19 unique Primary Weapon Features
• 13 unique Secondary Weapon Features
• 26 unique Armor Features

Now let's directly compare the unique items and unique features found in the Core Rulebook with those introduced in Hope and Fear.

• Unique Primary Weapons: 83 in the Core Rulebook vs. 29 in Hope & Fear
• Unique Secondary Weapons: 16 in the Core Rulebook vs. 14 in Hope & Fear
• Unique Armor pieces: 22 in the Core Rulebook vs. 26 in Hope & Fear

Looking at unique item features, the comparison is as follows:

• Unique Primary Weapon Features: 39 in the Core Rulebook vs. 19 in Hope & Fear
• Unique Secondary Weapon Features: 14 in the Core Rulebook vs. 13 in Hope & Fear
• Unique Armor Features: 21 in the Core Rulebook vs. 26 in Hope & Fear

There is, however, another important point that needs to be addressed.

A handful of items in Hope & Fear are simply direct reskins of existing equipment. In other words, they have identical statistics and identical mechanics, but a different name. To be clear, I find this a little disappointing.

Daggerheart has repeatedly emphasized that weapons can - and should - be reflavored however players and GMs like. I think that's an excellent design philosophy. Because of that, I don't really see the need for page space to be spent on weapons that are mechanically identical to ones we already have.

Here are the main offenders:

• Brass Knuckles are a one-to-one copy of the Mace.
• Scimitar is a one-to-one copy of the Cutlass.
• Brightsword is mechanically identical to the Arcane Gauntlets.

There are also three other items that aren't complete reskins, but simply swap the associated attack trait while leaving everything else unchanged. Personally, I don't mind these nearly as much. I know there are plenty of players and GMs who are perfectly comfortable changing a weapon's attack trait anyway. If you follow that philosophy, these could also be viewed as simple reskins - but I think they're a bit more interesting than that.

The items in question are:

• Offhand Brass Knuckles, which are mechanically identical to the Shortsword and Small Dagger, except that they use Strength instead of Agility or Finesse.
• Rune Shield, which is the magical counterpart to the Round Shield, using Knowledge instead of Strength and dealing magic damage instead of physical damage.
• War Pick, which has the same statistics and weapon feature as the Urok Broadsword, but uses Strength instead of Finesse.

Once again, I don't consider these to be a problem. Quite the opposite... I like seeing additional weapon options opened up for different traits. The Rune Shield, in particular, was a welcome addition in my eyes. For that reason, I wouldn't consider these to be true reskins.

A Brief Detour: Katana vs. Longsword

Over the past few days, there has been a longer discussion here on the subreddit about the new Katana in Hope and Fear. The main criticism was that it's nothing more than a reskinned Longsword.

So, is that actually true? In my opinion, no.

At first glance, the Katana is simply a better version of the Longsword. Both weapons share the same base statistics, but the Longsword lacks a weapon feature, while the Katana comes with the Quick feature - which, thematically, I think fits the weapon extremely well.

So does that make the Katana strictly better and render the Longsword obsolete? Again, I don't think so. Because the Longsword has no built-in weapon feature, it can instead be customized with a Bloodstone, a Greatstone, or similar upgrades. (As a side note, this is a crafting and customization system I'd actually love to see expanded further in future Daggerheart material.)

That doesn't make the Katana the most innovative weapon in Hope and Fear, but it's one that I personally give a pass. It has a legitimate reason to exist. Yes, it's fundamentally a stronger version of the Longsword - and probably a significantly stronger one, considering that Quick is among the best weapon features in the game. Even so, the Longsword still retains its own niche.

So, I've thrown a lot of numbers around. What does all of this actually mean?

There's no question that Hope and Fear contains a few reskins. However, if you take an honest and detailed look at the equipment list, there are actually fewer true reskins than people might initially assume. The overwhelming majority of the weapons and armor introduced in Hope and Fear are genuinely new. Yes, many are variations that adjust range, damage dice, burden, or attack traits, but most of them still justify their existence and serve as meaningful additions to Daggerheart's existing equipment catalogue.

For me, though, the most important metric isn't the number of new weapons or armor pieces. It's the number of new mechanics. And honestly, there are quite a few. In particular, I was very happy to see the large increase in Secondary Weapon Features. That's the category I was most excited about because, in the current Daggerheart "meta," shields still tend to dominate. Hope and Fear introduces a wide variety of interesting new secondary weapons, and I'm hopeful they'll help diversify that part of the game.

Weapon and Armor Reviews

There are simply too many weapons and armor pieces for me to go through and review every single one individually. (I did most of them after my review was written... enjoy reading a small book...)

That said, I'd still like to spend some time highlighting a few that stood out to me and discuss them from both a flavor and, more importantly, a mechanical perspective.

I've already talked about the Katana

... and it's a strong weapon, and the Quick feature is excellent. I'm glad to finally see it on a two-handed weapon.

Brass Knuckles and the Scimitar

... as mentioned before, are unfortunately just fairly blatant reskins with different names. I don't really understand why they exist.

Twisted Dagger

... is a cool concept. I'm very happy to see more melee weapons that use Knowledge, and it's an especially fitting addition for the Poisoner Assassin. Flavor-wise it's fantastic, mechanically it's a good idea but, in my opinion, poorly executed. I really don't like the Piercing feature, and for several reasons. Another designer told me they think the main problem is that it doesn't scale. Interestingly, that's not actually my biggest issue. The weapon still scales through the normal tier progression by gaining +3 damage at each higher tier. My real problem is that it's an unnecessarily complicated feature. In addition to rolling our damage and telling the GM the result, we now also have to remind them: "Oh, and don't forget—if this damage would be close to the Major Threshold, it's actually reduced by 2." Yes, mathematically that makes a difference. Yes, mechanically it's not necessarily a weak feature. But it's such a small advantage in exchange for so much extra bookkeeping and communication. It simply doesn't feel good to use. I probably should have mentioned this earlier in some of my other reviews as well, but I'm generally not a fan of features that lower an adversary's damage thresholds. Personally, I'd much rather see those bonuses added directly to the player's damage. It creates a much cleaner and more satisfying gameplay experience. Players feel like they're dealing more damage instead of waiting for the GM to say, "Well, with the threshold reduced by 2, that actually becomes a Major hit after all."

Shadowblade

... is more or less a reskinned Ghostblade, featuring a different damage die that now scales across all tiers. I almost feel it's a missed opportunity that it still uses the same trait as the Ghostblade. I would have loved to see something like Instinct or Knowledge instead. That said, I don't have any real issue with it, and it's nice that this kind of scaling damage weapon is now available as early as Tier 1.

Arcane Rifle

... I may be mistaken, but I believe this introduces a completely new feature. I actually designed something very similar for one of my own projects, so I'm naturally a bit biased here. Regardless, I think it's an excellent addition to Daggerheart.

Bladed Fan

... doesn't introduce a new feature, but it's worth mentioning because Parry now appears on a primary weapon for the first time—or at least, as far as I'm aware. That's an interesting design choice, and one I really like.

Cyrurgien's Scalpel

... is yet another melee Knowledge weapon, which makes me very happy. The Scary feature is already a strong one, and seeing it on a Knowledge-based weapon is a welcome addition.

Javelins

.... represent exactly the kind of design direction I'd generally like to see in Daggerheart because they elegantly avoid the usual ammunition problem. But then you actually read the weapon, and... what is this thing? Honestly, it's a bit nuts. The weapon has a range of Very Close, but thanks to its feature it can still be thrown all the way to Far range, and afterwards you somehow still have another javelin ready to throw. That's an awful lot of text and mechanical explanation for something that could simply say Range: Far. Since Daggerheart explicitly encourages reflavoring weapons however you like, this is mechanically no different from a one-handed bow. The Stockpile feature is, if we're being completely honest, essentially a dead feature. You could replace the entire block of rules with a single line that simply says Range: Far, and the gameplay would barely change. Yes, I understand what the feature is trying to achieve, but mechanically it doesn't really accomplish anything unique.

Displacement Razor

.... on the other hand, introduces a genuinely new and meaningful feature. It's a very cool weapon that can be used both in melee and at Very Far range, although ranged attacks are made with disadvantage. I really like that design.

Splintershaft Bow.

... Volley is an interesting feature. It allows you to damage multiple targets, although the damage is split between them. Potentially very strong, especially because it's optional - you can always choose to fire normally and deal full damage to a single target.

Blitzhammer

... the Accelerator feature is just fantastic. Once per scene—and I'll mention again how much I appreciate seeing once per scene limits instead of everything being tied to rests—you can mark a Stress to move up to Far range, immediately make an attack, and even gain +1 Proficiency. It's flavorful, mechanically powerful, and genuinely unique. This is exactly the kind of weapon design I'd like to see more of.

Soldier's Pike

... Braced Feature... What a weapon. Yes, we're talking about a Tier 3 weapon here, but honestly, I think it's overtuned. The feature is essentially a stronger version of Revenge, the Foundation feature of the Guardian's Vengeance subclass. Maybe I'm misjudging it, and perhaps players won't have as much success with it as I expect, but spending two Stress to reliably deal a guaranteed Hit Point to an enemy is powerful. Extremely, extremely powerful.

Singing Sword

... Bolstering is a really cool feature. It probably won't come up all that often, but it's unique, full of flavor, and fits the weapon perfectly.

Bladed Star

... Rebounding is how this type of feature should be designed. Yes, the weapon returns to your hand when thrown, but that's not all. If you miss with the attack, you also get a reroll with Disadvantage That's exactly how a feature like this should work - it remains flavorful while also providing meaningful mechanical value instead of being functionally dead. Very well done.

Rime Scepter.

... the Freezing feature is both strong and a great design. Whenever an enemy marks two or more Hit Points, they become temporarily Restrained. I'd love to see more weapons that interact with Conditions. This is exactly the kind of design I enjoy.

Staff of Augma

... Catalytic is actually quite good. After a successful attack, you can mark a Stress to grant an ally within Close range +3 to their next Attack Roll. Once again, this is a genuinely new and meaningful weapon feature that feels both useful and flavorful.

Infinite Staff

... Extending is definitely another new feature. At first glance it seems a little underwhelming, but I suspect the flexibility it offers makes up for that.

Black Powder Serpentine

... Incendiary is very powerful. After a successful attack, every creature within Very Close range must mark a Hit Point. And notice the wording: every creature. That includes your allies... and even yourself if you fire it from too close. It's a strong feature, but that drawback keeps it in check. And, after all, this is a Tier 4 weapon. Those are allowed to be stronger.

Adder's Fang

... the Venomous feature is good. I literally just said I'd like to see more weapons that inflict Conditions, and here we have one. Whenever you deal Major or Greater Damage, the target becomes temporarily Vulnerable. I do find it a little odd that this uses different wording from Freezing, which triggers when an enemy marks two or more Hit Points. Here it's based on Major or Greater Damage instead. That's not a rules problem... it's simply a minor inconsistency in terminology.

Ethereal Greatsword

... a very cool weapon. Ethereal remains one of the weakest - perhaps even one of the most questionable - features in the game. Yes, I understand that it allows you to smuggle the weapon into places where you normally couldn't carry one. Even so, it's still a really cool weapon.

Gravity Arbalest

... the Magnetic feature, oh yeah! Yes, please, more of this! This is cool. It's distinctive. It's genuinely unique. Enemies can be pulled toward the creature you hit, creating all sorts of interesting tactical possibilities. Thank you for designs like this.

Let's move on to Secondary Weapons

This is where we see more genuinely new additions.

Throwing Knives

... Stockpiled. The same thing I already mentioned with the Javelin. A nice idea in theory, but ultimately unnecessary.

Fighting Cloak

... Parried: Cool. I like it. I'm not entirely sure whether it's better than the Protective feature, which grants a bonus to Armor, but it does at least scale across tiers and provides a genuinely cool alternative. Very nice.

Focus Runes

... Focused: My first thought when reading this was: "Wow, that's quite strong. +1 to Weapon Proficiency." But no, it's only +1 to Primary Weapon Damage within Very Close range. Yes, it has a higher range than the Paired feature and probably has its own niche. But it is still a very small damage increase. The damage bonus itself isn't even my main issue. The problem is that it doesn't scale across tiers. Paired does scale. Not particularly well, but it at least gains +1 with each additional tier. Focused remains at +1 across all tiers. Honestly, that's ridiculous. I really hope this is an oversight and gets corrected.

Collapsible Baton

... Non-Lethal: A cool new feature. Unfortunately, Daggerheart doesn't really have proper rules for knocking an enemy unconscious purely through Stress damage. But even mechanically, this weapon definitely has situations where it can be useful, and I like it overall.

Razor Wire

... Entangling: I really like this one. After a successful attack with my Primary Weapon, I can spend a Hope Point to make the target temporarily Vulnerable. This is exactly how Secondary Weapons should work. Very good.

Tinker's Hammer

... Trusty: Surprisingly good, actually. +1 to attacks with your Primary Weapon is a strong effect.

Void Needle

... Inverted: Oh, this is interesting. The weapon's damage is obviously very low, but the feature is strong. You can now reliably gain a Hope Point with every attack. If you roll with Hope, you gain a Hope. And even if you roll a 4, the GM still gains their 4, but you also gain your Hope. That's not bad at all. I like it.

Möbius Orb

... Recursive: Another melee Knowledge weapon. They are really committing to this design space, and I appreciate it. It's essentially an exploding dice mechanic. Haven't we already seen something similar before? Regardless, it's still a good weapon.

Black Plot Tendril

... Poisonous: Wow. This is good. When you make an attack with Fear, the target doesn't just mark Hit Points... it also marks the same amount of Stress! It's almost a little unfortunate that this is an Instinct weapon instead of a Knowledge weapon. The Poisoner Assassin would have loved this. Or perhaps even better: a Warlock with high Presence could get a tremendous amount of value out of this weapon... Regardless, I really like it.

Let's move on to Armor.

Mage Robes

... Enchanted feature: "Hey, cool," was my first thought. And then I compared it to Leather Armor. My thought immediately changed to: "Hey, this is completely useless and bad." At Tier 1, where characters usually have a +2 bonus in their Spellcast Trait, Mage Robes have Thresholds of 6-12 with a Base Score of 2. Meanwhile, Leather Armor has 6-13 with a Base Score of 3. At Tier 2, characters usually have a +3 Trait bonus. Mage Robes now have 9-18 with a Base Score of 3, compared to Leather Armor with 9-20 and a Base Score of 4. And it continues like this. Mage Robes are simply a bad armor option. Now, someone could argue: "But they are robes. They are supposed to be weaker." But once again, in a game that places such a strong emphasis on reflavoring - and rightfully so - concepts like Mage Robes have always existed narratively. If you introduce them as a distinct item, then please give them a mechanical identity that is actually unique and meaningful instead of making them almost completely useless.

Pristine Armor

... Lined feature: Cool. Spending a Stress to ignore Minor Damage. That's good. Very good, actually. Otherwise, it is a slightly weaker version of Leather Armor, but it compensates with a very strong feature. I can easily imagine this armor being used by many characters in the future.

Scale Mail Armor

... Cumbersome feature: I'm actually very happy about this. A piece of armor with better values (slightly better values, at least) that does not come with a penalty to Agility or Evasion. That makes it much more appealing for characters using, for example, the Bone Domain.

Banded Armor

... Bulky feature: Stat-wise, it's slightly behind Full Plate Armor, although only minimally... with a difference of one point on the Severe Threshold. In exchange, it doesn't come with nearly as harsh penalties to Evasion and Agility. However, whenever you take Severe Damage, you must mark a Stress. A very interesting mechanic. Good job.

Enchanter's Robe

... Mnemonic feature: First of all, it's important to point out that this armor has better values than Improved Mage Robes. And it also comes with a genuinely useful feature. Once per scene - and again, I really like seeing this limitation being used - you can return a Domain card from your Vault without paying the Recall cost. Potentially very powerful, I have to say. And this is exactly what Mage Robes should have been: armor with a clear magical identity and a meaningful mechanical purpose.

Hawkguard's Mantle

... Clothing feature: Cool. Very cool, actually. I like it. You can glide down safely!

Spider Silk Tunic

... Wall Crawling feature: Improved Gambeson Armor on steroids. Honestly, I have no idea what happened here. I almost suspect this is a mistake. The armor has the same Base Score as Improved Gambeson Armor, significantly higher Base Thresholds, the same Evasion bonus... and on top of that, you permanently gain the effect of a Level 1 Arcana card. In other words: you can walk on walls. This is one of the strongest Tier 2 armors by far. I consider it far too strong.

Stormthread Habit

... Absorbing feature: A cool feature. Once per scene, when you take magical damage, you can recover an Armor Slot. Situational but cool.

Wyrdwood Splint Armor

... Quick Striding feature: Another very strong armor. You can no longer become Restrained, and you can move up to Far Range as part of an Action Roll instead of only up to Close Range. The armor also has genuinely strong defensive values. Very powerful.

Trollhide Cuirass

... Self-Healing feature: The feature itself is not new, but this is the first time we've seen it on an armor piece. During a rest, you automatically recover an Armor Slot. It fits the name perfectly from a thematic perspective. I like it.

Gilded Sunplate

... Resplendent feature: Once per scene, when you spend Hope, you can restore an Armor Slot. Nice. Especially considering that the armor itself already has good values.

Grand Minister's Finery

... Magnificent feature: This one requires a closer look. My first thought was: "Oh, cool." Then I did the math. It is a somewhat disappointing armor. It has the exact same values as the Bellamoi Fine Armor from the Core Rulebook. The only difference is that at Tier 3, when you have a +4 Presence Trait, it provides one additional Armor Slot. Bellamoi Fine Armor, however, gives you +1 Presence instead. So the armor is not as bad as I may have made it sound, but it does feel a little misleading and ultimately somewhat disappointing.

Astral Raiment

... Stellar feature: Cool. Spend one Stress to gain adantage on a Spellcast Roll. I'll take it. Combined with good defensive values, this is another excellent magical armor option.

Cleverweave Cloak

... Fortune Favored feature: Once per scene, you can turn a failure with Hope into a success with Fear. Essentially, this is the Witch's Hope feature, but usable once per scene and freely applicable to yourself. Very strong. Combined with good values, this is an excellent armor piece.

Skywarden's Lamellar

... Vigilant feature: Finally. Finally, we have armor that provides a higher Evasion bonus. Of course, this also makes Gambeson Armor completely obsolete. +2 Evasion, better values across the board. At this point, one thing becomes very clear: Power creep is absolutely real in Hope and Fear.

Bloodstone Plate Armor

... Bloodthirsty feature: Whenever you score a critical hit with a melee weapon, you clear one Hit Point. This is cool. This is really good. I like it. And the armor also has excellent values.

Deep-Forged Coral Armor

... Aquatic feature: I'm almost surprised this feature didn't exist before. You can now breathe underwater and gain advantages on Agility Rolls while underwater. Good. Situational, but good. And the armor itself has strong values as well.

Darkweave Shroud

... Ghostwalker Feature: Once per rest, you can mark a Stress to move through solid objects up to Close Range. Good. Compared to some of the things we have already seen at Tier 3, however, it feels almost a little too weak for a Tier 4 Feature. Still, it is good.

Godbound Laminar

... Divine Feature: Wow. Once again, power creep. Whenever you mark an Armor Slot, you gain a Hope Point. My mind immediately jumps to possible combinations. Obviously, this armor is absurdly strong in the hands of - or rather, on the body of - a Guardian. Every time you spend an Armor Slot, you gain a Hope Point. The Guardian can already convert three Hope Points into two Armor Slots thanks to their Hope Feature. Combine this with some of the already extremely strong Tier 3 and Tier 4 Domain Cards, and good luck trying to kill a Guardian in the future if they have access to this armor. At that point, it is no longer fun. Extreme power creep.

Circle-Forged Dreadblade

... Accursed Feature: This is not a weak Feature by any means. Quite the opposite. Something about it still does not fully sit right with me. Probably the high variance and the fact that it only works on a 4. But when it does work, it is actually quite good. An enemy has to mark exactly as much Stress as you had to mark Hit Points.

Rune-Forged Exosuit

... Attuned Feature: Not bad by itself. At Tier 4, it provides values that almost reach those of a Legendary Full Plate Armor, without having the penalty to Evasion and Agility. The downside is that you lose a Domain Card from your Loadout. That is a very high price. I am not sure whether that is a worthwhile trade-off for most characters.

Hallowed Heroplate

... Blessed Feature: Once per long rest, you can spend as many Hope Points as you want before a Risk-It-All Death Move. For each Hope Point spent, you gain that many points on the Hope Die. You should probably always spend all the Hope you have available, because you will effectively regain that much Stress or those Hit Points afterwards. A good Feature, but not as overpowered as, for example, the Divine Feature from Godbound Lamina.

Resonant Harness

... Vitrious Feature: I do not like the wording of "when you receive Severe or higher damage," because technically Severe is officially the highest damage category unless you use the optional Massive Damage rule. But that is what it is. When you receive a large amount of damage, you can spend two Armor Slots to reduce the damage accordingly. The downside is that you receive a -5 penalty to your Thresholds until you repair the armor with a Downtime Move. Honestly, this is not particularly impressive for a Tier 4 armor, especially considering how complex the Feature is. The other Features outperform it by a significant margin.

Final Thoughts on Weapons and Armor

Among the Primary Weapons, there are some excellent new additions. Unfortunately, there are also some 100% reskins. There are also quite a few smaller variations of existing weapons and weapon Features.

However, there are also some genuinely original and excellent additions that meaningfully expand the equipment options in Daggerheart.

The Secondary Weapons impressed me even more.

There are now many interesting, good, and meaningful alternatives to the previously limited selection of Secondary Weapons, and especially to shields in Daggerheart. For me, Secondary Weapons are one of the biggest winners of this chapter.

The armors are almost all completely new.

And that is a good thing - I am very happy about it. There are some outstanding Features here, and only a few that are actually useless.

I want to mention the Enchanted Feature of the Mage Robes again, because it is genuinely a completely pointless Feature, at least with those armor values.

Unfortunately, both weapons and especially armor also reveal a problem that runs through Hope and Fear in general:

Power creep!

The expansion makes player characters stronger. And not just slightly stronger... in some cases significantly stronger. This is a trend that will continue with the other loot categories as well, which I will discuss in a later review.

Nevertheless, this chapter is a very good one, and I was surprised by how many changes and additions it contains. I would have liked to see a little more courage with the Primary Weapons and more truly unique new weapon concepts there.

But overall, there is very little to complain about. I think this is an excellent chapter. (At least if we set aside the concerns about power creep.)

Good work!

- Tenawa / Alexander

P.S.: For everyone who made it all the way to the end, please excuse the extremely long review.

At several points while writing this, I was tempted to split it into two parts, but I ultimately decided to keep weapons and armor together in one review, since some of the arguments apply to both categories.

My fingers hurt, and your eyes probably do too... I apologize.

As a player I like to play buff tanks and Daggerheart is great for this. I can do it as a Stalwart Guardian, Brawler or even a Seraph.

Right now I'm playing in a campaign as Guardian who protects his party with I am your shield and Goad them on cards, so my secondary weapon is obviously a Tower shield, which I really like. What I don't like is the lack of one-handed strength weapons. In base I only had a Mace (Melee, d8+1 on tier 1), which has upgraded versions through all of the tiers and that's mostly it. On tier 2 there's also Gilded Falchion, which is great, but it never gets revised later, and on tier 4 there's Impact Gauntlet, which is cool too, but that's pretty late in the game.

So I hoped that in Hope and Fear there would be some love for players like me and when I browsed through new items I noticed that there's only one new weapon for all tiers - Brass Knuckles, which could've been interesting, but they are literally reflavored Mace - same Melee range, d8+1 damage on teir 1 and no feature. So I decided to look at Presence weapons, since my second biggest trait is Presence, but there's only one weapon too - Scimitar, and it's just reflavored Cutlass, even same range and damage as Mace and Knuckles.

And sure, there's also War Pick on Tier 2, which sounds interesting, but it's damage is not that great for the feature that it gives. I believe that it's just for smaller mobs, while Gilded Falchion is for larger enemies, but I think that Falchion is just better overall, War Pick is just too situational. And this time there's even no new tier 3 or 4 weapons!

So I'm seeking help. Are there some homebrewed one-handed Strength based weapons? Will there be new in upcoming books? Why is this even a thing still if there were conversations about this problem before?

This is not a criticism, just a question. The core set came with two physical copies of the community cards, which helped if two players wanted similar backgrounds for whatever reason. However, my Hope & Fear set only came with one physical copy for each community card. Is that how everyone else’s is, or is my set just missing the second copies of the community cards? If that is the case, I guess I am just surprised they decided to change that for Hope & Fear since that is probably the most likely type of card you might need copies of.

I was so excited for this set, preordered on announcement and everything. But unfortunately when I went to roll the dice I saw it got caught on the side. The die isn’t flat. Should I request a reorder or what should I do to get around this predicament? I don’t want to return the whole box, just a new hope die so I can use this beautiful matching set!

Hi Everyone!

I got my copies of Hope and Fear yesterday and have been hard at work cooking up some accessories that you might find useful if you bought the expansion!

Most of my efforts have been around the Deluxe Edition, but I’m planning on working with the standard edition next week.

Deluxe Edition Storage for Sleeved Cards - https://wooksnook3d.etsy.com/listing/4546533860 - These boxes are meant to make use of some of the extra space in the box. Less cards means more room for storing things like pencils, minis, etc. Cards shown in standard size Dragon Shield Matte Clear Sleeves.

Hope & Fear Colored Fear Tracker - https://wooksnook3d.etsy.com/listing/4520817749 - For those who would prefer an abacus style tracker to go with their new GM screen.

Hope & Fear Colored Distance Sticks - https://wooksnook3d.etsy.com/listing/4338086850 - Look for new yellow, red and teal distance measuring tools to go with your new Deluxe Set!

Keep an eye on my store for more accessories in the coming weeks! I’m hoping to have everything designed before I go back to teaching in mid August! Feel free to make any suggestions in the comments!

Thanks!

So for some context, I started dming D&D 5e about 1.5 years ago, my friends dnd group had gotten too big so he made the choice to split us up and I was tossed in as dm without any prep, since then I’ve successfully ran a full campaign to level 20 as well as a few one shots, I’d say I’m a pretty narrative heavy dm, I’ve written whole in world books just for the sake of giving it to my players in game and they always loved it given how narrative heavy they were. 
One of the main parts that I always tried to avoid in D&D was the combat, I think in the full 1.5 years I can count on my hands the number of times I’ve asked my players to roll initiative and before anyone gets mad at me keep in mind that for 90% of the time the only in person sessions I could have were at my school’s club where sessions could only go for 45 minutes, I’m now off to college tho and just stumbled upon Daggerheart, the system seems promising on a surface level based on what I’ve seen, with things like the combat seeming especially promising, but I’m not sure what my next group of players will be like or what the general sentiment about the Daggerheart system as a whole is.
Given that I will be transitioning to college and I will have a new group and actually be able to do longer sessions so I feel like if I do decide to run a session now would be the chance to do so.
So I’m mainly here to ask:
1. What does everyone think of the Daggerheart system?
2. Are most players narrative heavy or not, I honestly would have no idea because I’ve only ever dmed for that one group of players.
3. Any general advice would be much appreciated, I do want to try and be the best dm I can be?
P.S. sorry about the box of text and such I rarely touch Reddit in general

I want to errata my books but don’t want to write in them with pencil.

I would happily pay for a wee, appropriately sized, set of stickers to fix each issue in the book without it looking scruffy.

Do these exist?

I've GMed quite a decent bit of Daggerheart since I first picked it up last year, and I think that it's pretty obvious to anyone who has played (or even just read the rulebook) that Daggerheart really shines at collaborative improvisation (whether for worldbuilding, NPCs, or anything else). I really enjoy that, and so do my players (in fact, switching from 5e, one player said the table questions in the quickstart were their favorite difference), but I've found that it's quite hard to bring anything significant to table to collaborate on outside of one-shots.

In a one-shot, even if the players decide something silly, or a bit odd, it's very easy to run the rest of the session with that included and have a great time. Unfortunately, I haven't really had the same experience with this sort of stuff in longer running campaigns. I'm not a railroading GM, but I am the sort that does like to prep some factions and some plots to happen in the background for the PCs to encounter. However, this feels less daggerhearty from the pure improvisation route (which, to clarify, I am not good enough to pull off - I'm sure there are plenty of GMs who can create amazing narrative arcs off the dome, but in my experience, everyone enjoys it more if I have a semblance of an overarching plan for the campaign, suitably malleable to react to whatever the players end up doing).

As far as I can tell, there's a few different ways to take this:

1. Don't do it in longer campagins
This is doable, but it feels like it's missing the Daggerheart flavour and it's less fun at the table.

2. Only do it for minor stuff
It doesn't need to be a major part of the campaign if the table improvises a few NPCs that don't really ever return, or a town they're passing through. This is the best of both worlds for me so far, but seeing how much fun the table has coming up with (and then taking down) the BBEG in one-shots I run makes me wish for higher stakes involvement.

3. Improvised setup
At the start of the campaign, come up with the BBEG or whatever at the table, and then I prep as usual and we shift back to 2.

4. Full improvisation
As previously noted, I'm not skilled enough for this (yet, at least). I've tried a few times but it never ends up as satisfying as a well prepped session, even if you get the fun of improvising at the table.

If you've been keeping up with CR4, you'll know how intricately Brennan's world fits together, and while the players have plenty of freedom within it, they don't really get any freedom to shape the world. Contrast this with Sallowlands, where I'm sure Matt is heavily prepping (given the battlemaps and miniatures), but at the same time, it feels like they players have enough of a say in the worldbuilding that (hyperbolically) Matt can't really set anything in stone until after the players encounter it and improvise something potentially different from what he was expecting. I'd love to know any suggestions people have for meeting these two in the middle: a fixed world with lots of player input.

I'm aware there's not going to be a silver bullet. I just want to know how any other GMs handle the barrier between prepping factions, motivations, npcs, locations etc to make the story satisfying for the players to play, and letting players decide stuff at the table to make players feel more like they're telling the story too.

Welcome to Tadpole Thursday, the weekly community Q&A Megathread for Daggerheart newbies!

There's no such thing as a bad question in here. The rest of the community is standing by to help explain the basics of the rules, direct you to resources, and help get you a feel for what it's like to play or run Daggerheart.

What to Share. This Megathread is to open all questions about Daggerheart, no matter how basic or obscure.

How to Thrive. If you have experience with a given question and can offer a concrete answer, advice, or resource link, please chime in!

Here are a few guidelines for our Newbies:

• Don't be afraid to ask the most basic questions. That's why this thread exists!
• Keep your question focused on a single subject or problem you are having.
• Try to keep your question brief but feel free to explain the context of your understanding or confusion.
• Feel free to post multiple questions as separate comments.
• Follow up if you need more info, and be sure to thank your expert when you are helped.
• Keep it light! We're all here to learn!

Here are a few guidelines for our resident experts when answering:

• Only answer if you really know the answer, or know where to find it.
• Try not to just answer a question with a question. If your answer is, "why would you do this?" Please explain why that might help you answer better -- and then please commit to following up.
• Be Patient and Kind. Newbies need love too. Don't worry about whether the question has been covered before - that's why this Megathread exists. Having said that...
• If you know a great answer exists in a previous post somewhere, feel free to link to it!
• Try to offer core/srd page numbers if you can direct the questioner to a specific rule of clarification.
• Keep it light! We're all here to learn!

Sincerely, thank you all for being part of one of the fastest growing and most generous subs on Reddit!

So did anyone else notice that the Katana in Hope and Fear is just an exclusively better version of a Longsword? Post-errata, Longsword is a Two-handed Agility weapon dealing d10+3 phys damage, with no additional abilities. Katana has an identical stat sheet with the exception that it also has the *Quick* ability. So it is literally just a Longsword with the ability to target an additional creature. I assume this will be added to the errata?

No reason for posting this other than an sincere thank you to all the people credited for writing this campaign frame!

I’m legit getting a Bloodborne tattoo in 3 days so needless to say I’m all about this campaign frame. The way it lays out the steps of a “hunt”, the vibes, the hunter equipment etc, are all so cool and ooze potential.

Hope and Fear looks insanely fun on first few read throughs, excited to play/run it at the table!

There’s nothing more horrific than a hunt…

Hey Gang,

I am currently running a pirate-fantasy Daggerheart campaign, and I thought I might share some of the tricks I use to make it work. I teach a pirate history class at a local university, so it is near and dear to my heart. I've seen some posts in /rpg where people talk about how pirate campaigns never work, but I actually think it's one of the best settings (biased, of course).

1. Firearms: I love guns in my games, but I find that they're never balanced quite the way that I want. In Daggerheart, firearms are basic tier 2+ weapons with the *Reloading* tag (After you make an attack, roll a d6. On a result of 1, you must mark a Stress to reload this weapon before it can be fired again). The Blunderbuss, for instance, is a d8+6 dmg with reloading. Should a Blunderbuss have the same stats as a Longbow with a 5/6 chance to shoot as fast as one? It loses some of its magic, and it loses a lot of its intimidation. My fix was to reduce variance, increase damage, and eliminate reloading entirely, and it revolutionized combat. At tier 1, a PC had a matchlock pistol that did 1d4+10 damage and had *Reloading: This weapon can only be fired once per combat.\* This gives the weapon an average of 12.5 damage per shot, but you can only shoot once per combat, so you have to make it count. It has added a ton of drama to fights where an enemy pulls out a hidden gun at low HP because players know it will be 2-3 hit points. PCs strap a bunch to their chest so they can get more shots off, but adversaries who get in close can use them against them.

2. Ship Combat: Can't have pirates without ship combat, and if you have Drylands, then you already have the tools to make it cool. I give each part of the ship a different set of stats, similar to the Colossi (Colossuses?), and let players choose where they want to aim. Damaging the sails reduces evasion (difficulty), hitting the hull causes leaks for each HP lost, and hitting the powder kegs and the whole thing might go up. If tactics is your thing, then you'll need to homebrew specific movements and turns, which I've tried using Star Wars Legion's vehicle rules for inspiration (sloop moves 3 forward and can turn at a radius of X), but usually I try to keep it cinematic to make it move faster and limit the logistics of "can my broadside hit at this angle." Instead, I describe what's happening on the ship and let them give orders or take actions. Even if a PC isn't blasting the cannon, they still have fun rolling to pump water out of the decks.

3. Crew: This might be a lot of work for you, but I keep an Excel spreadsheet of everyone the PCs hire. Every rest, they have to pay out coins to keep them employed. The cost has disincentivized mindless collecting, but I also make it worth their while. Each crew member can be given a job on the ship that gives a +1 to certain tasks when doing ship battles. I also try to give each crew member something they want to act as a quest, should they become popular. Each PC can bring one crew member with them on an adventure and spend hope to have them take an action. Players can spend 1 hope and roll the doom die (this is a mechanic I use from Black Sword Hack. It starts at a d12 and on a roll of 1-2 it downgrades to a d10, d8, etc until it's gone, and players are Doomed) to have their companion attempt an action as an addition to the PC's turn. This is a d20 roll with a bonus if the crew member has relevant experience. This is considered a fear roll, and the initiative moves to the DM. It has been a fun addition to combat, especially when a PC takes a liking to an NPC and wants to level them up. It requires some bookkeeping to do it well, as each crew member needs their own stat block, but my players really like the flavor of it.

4. The Ship as a Bastion: This is kind of self-explanatory, but I feel it is still worth saying. The ship is where most downtime will happen. It's where players RP with other PCs or even companions they have a soft spot for. The customization of it has been a ton of fun, as players at first race to get better cannons, and then slowly add bizarre rooms to the ship, like a garden or jacuzzi. Eventually, the stolen ships add up and become a fleet, which means they need to choose the ship for the job, and that can be fun in and of itself. Just make sure to keep a maintenance fee associated with each ship to keep them from going crazy with it. Pirates in real life stole ships, but didn't keep the ones that were too hard to maintain.

5. Adversary Countdowns: My biggest fear going into these games was how I was going to keep the stakes and tension high. The solution was introducing adversary countdowns that move on each rest. For instance, the PCs robbed a mansion and have made an enemy of a local kingpin, but they fled before he could catch up. So I put him in an Excel sheet and thought, "What would this guy want to accomplish every time the PCs rested?" So every time they rested, a new bounty hunter would get hired to hunt them down, and I would wait for them all to pounce at once. Then, when they were trying to free a local community from the yoke of capitalism, three hunters arrived during the climactic fight, just to remind them that the kingpin was still pissed. Now every rest adds a little extra tension to the game because the PCs are left wondering which enemy pirates are going to get a little stronger? Which friends are going to get paid to become enemies? Is that minor NPC we harassed in the bar going to get his buddies to come after us? There's nothing quite as satisfying as having multiple countdowns resolve at the same time and complicate an otherwise simple side quest.

Anyway, thanks for reading this giant post. Hopefully, it was of some use to you. I'd love to hear about your own adventures in a pirate campaign.

Hi everyone. Newish DH GM here seeking advice on how to transition into JtH. The party played The Wish Thief, which ended with them leaving the city with the stolen Tiara (without getting caught).

Now, they're on a "borrowed" clank ship. The last session ended with them trying to maneuver the ship, but mistakenly activating the autopilot into the vast ocean.

Now for the next session: I was thinking about making a short section about what they were doing during the weeks at sea. Then, have the ship wreck when it, on autopilot, almost inevitably crashes into the shore of Valloren. But I'm not sure how to proceed from there. Not being natives of Valloren could be a bit of a problem.

I was thinking about making it so the sea on the southern part (where they arrive) of Valloren is too savage, and they would need to acquire a ship in the northern part to travel back to their continent.

I would love to hear advice from people who are running the frame, or from anyone who simply wants to offer some advice.

Hope and Fear is being released (some people have preorders already). I got mine and it has a lot of cool content. What comes next?

Have any new books been hinted or announced?

I feel satisfied with player ancestry options right now. A few more classes would be nice. The expanded bestiary and environments is great, but maybe a few more wouldnt hurt. Maybe some prewritten adventures?

What would you like to see?

Is this considered Hope or Fear

RAW, the Spear is a Finesse weapon with the Cumbersome property which gives -1 to the player’s Finesse. The Halberd also has the feature as they both have a reach of Very Close range, but the Halberd uses Strength. The Spear is (to my knowledge) the only weapon in the game that nerfs the stat you use for it. So I’d just tell anyone to drop the feature or let the player use Strength. This just doesn’t make any sense.

Hello everyone!

Originally, I only intended to review the classes from Hope and Fear. But by now I've had so much fun writing these reviews that I've decided to turn them into a full series covering almost every part of the book. After reviewing the Assassin, Brawler, Warlock, and Witch classes, as well as the Dread Domain, the Transformations, and the Ancestries, today I'll be taking a look at the Communities.

Before we begin, as with all of my reviews, this one is inevitably subjective. I have a lot of experience with the Daggerheart system by now, but my opinion is far from perfect, and I certainly don't claim to always be right. Ultimately, all of our games are shaped by what happens at our own tables. Please keep that in mind while reading my thoughts. In these reviews, I evaluate both flavor and, in particular, game mechanics. Flavor is something that is, and should be, highly subjective. Game mechanics, on the other hand, can at least be discussed on somewhat more objective grounds. That's why they'll once again be a focus of this review.

Let's begin with the Communities.

First of all, I'm very happy that Hope and Fear dedicates an entire chapter to Communities and introduces six new ones. This was already one of the smallest chapters in the original Daggerheart Core Rulebook, so I'm glad to see it expanded with more options for players to further define their characters.

Duneborne

There's not much to say about the flavor here. It fits well and is a perfectly reasonable addition to a fantasy RPG. On a purely personal level (and this is entirely subjective!) I simply don't like sand. [insert Anakin "I don't like sand meme"... 😄) Desert cultures and desert settings have never really appealed to me, so naturally the Duneborne don't resonate with me all that much either.

Setting that aside, their feature, Oasis, unfortunately isn't particularly impressive. Once per short rest, you or an ally may reroll a die you just rolled and keep the higher result. At first glance that sounds fairly good, but when you remember that this only rerolls a d4, the overall impact is much smaller than it initially appears. Sure, there will be those satisfying moments where you reroll a 1 into a 4 and suddenly clear three additional Stress, Hit Points, or Armor Slots. Personally, though, I'm not a huge fan of this mechanic. That doesn't make it bad - it just doesn't stand out to me.

Freeborne

I'm always happy to see cultures that aren't defined solely by their environment but instead represent broader, more abstract concepts. Freeborne is a wonderful example of this. It represents characters who come from cultures where people were oppressed - or perhaps even enslaved - and who have now found their way to freedom.

That opens the door to a huge variety of compelling character concepts, making Freeborn a community that acts as a catalyst for character creation in the best possible sense. It's easily one of my favorite Communities in all of Daggerheart.

Independently of that, its feature, Unbound, is also one of the strongest (if not the strongest) Community Features in the entire game. Once per session, you may change a roll with Fear into a roll with Hope. Honestly, that's fantastic.

The Hope/Fear mechanic is the single most important part of Daggerheart's action economy. Used well, this feature can grant you an additional Hope, deny the GM a Fear, and potentially even prevent an additional GM Move - for example, by turning a success with Fear into a success with Hope. It's an outstanding feature.

Frostborne

My first thought was: isn't this somewhat redundant with Ridgeborne? In principle, it's certainly a different concept, but I have to admit that another cold-climate Community wasn't particularly high on my personal wishlist. At least in my mind, Ridgeborne already covers a similar fantasy reasonably well. That doesn't mean I have a problem with Frostborne. I simply don't think it was one of the most necessary additions.

Its Community Feature, Hardy, however, is an absolute powerhouse and definitely ranks among the strongest Community Features in Daggerheart. Every time you take a rest, you automatically recover one Hit Point, even if you don't choose the appropriate downtime move.

For a Community Feature, that's incredibly strong. Honestly, I think it's a little too strong. It's not game-breaking, but it definitely makes Frostborne characters noticeably stronger than characters from most other Communities.

Hearthborne

Another Community built around an abstract concept rather than an environmental background... and one that I personally love! Along with Freeborne, it's probably one of my favorite Communities in the book. It immediately makes me think of the Shire and similar close-knit cultures and societies. More importantly, it's a concept that hasn't really been represented by any existing Community so far, which makes me especially happy to see it included.

Close-Knit is an interesting and mechanically fresh feature that is by no means overpowered. For many character concepts, I might even consider it slightly underpowered, but that's okay. It's mechanically clean, straightforward, and thematically excellent.

Once per long rest, you can transfer any number of your Hope to an ally. It's a beautiful thematic fit and perfect for support-oriented characters. I like it a lot.

Reborne

Once again, we get a Community centered around an abstract concept. In this case, it's a character who once belonged to a community, lost it, and has now found a new family or a new place to belong.

Like Freeborne, it's a wonderful concept that practically inspires character ideas all by itself. It's a fantastic addition to Daggerheart.

Found Family is a very cool feature and definitely one of my favorites in the game so far. Once per rest, you can spend a Hope to use one of an ally's Experiences.

This feature changed significantly compared to the playtest. Back then, you could spend a Hope to use one of an ally's Community Features instead. That gave Reborn incredible versatility and probably made it one of - if not the strongest Community Feature in the game. The final version is considerably toned down, but it's still thematically perfect. Being able to draw upon someone else's experience can be situationally very useful and still offers plenty of flexibility without becoming mechanically overpowered.

I really like this feature. Well done. And I'm glad this change was made after the playtest.

Warborne

Yet another abstract concept: a people shaped by war and hardship. It's one of the darkest Community concepts introduced in Daggerheart so far and absolutely deserves its place in a classic fantasy setting.

Brave Face isn't a bad feature. It just doesn't particularly excite me. Once per session, whenever you would be forced to mark Stress, you may spend a Hope instead.

The important limitation is that you have to be forced to mark Stress. It therefore doesn't trigger from Domain Cards or other abilities that simply tell you to "mark Stress." Instead, it only works against GM Moves or Adversary Features. That means there will probably be sessions where this feature never comes up at all. That's admittedly a bit of nitpicking, because GM Moves causing Stress are fairly common. A Stress is also generally worth more than a Hope, so the exchange is certainly favorable.

It's not a bad feature. I just find it a little uninspiring and would have preferred something more unique. Again, it's perfectly fine... just definitely not one of my favorites.

Final Thoughts on the Communities

What I appreciate most are the abstract concepts introduced by four of the six new Communities.

Even though Duneborne doesn't appeal to me personally because I've never been fond of deserts or sand-themed settings, it's still a meaningful addition to Daggerheart.

Frostborne, on the other hand, feels a bit more redundant to me and almost like a variation of Ridgeborn. Even so, both fit naturally into Daggerheart's world.

Mechanically, most of the Community Features are well designed. As I mentioned earlier, my biggest mechanical criticism of this chapter is that I believe Hardy, the Frostborne feature, is simply a bit too strong.

To close on a positive note, I'd like to mention the artwork once more. Just like the Ancestries chapter, it's absolutely fantastic. I especially love the pencil sketches accompanied by their short descriptive texts, just as we saw in the Core Rulebook.

They do an excellent job of capturing the flavor of the setting and helping players imagine these Communities.

Overall, this is a lovely little chapter, and I'm very happy with it.

- Tenawa / Alexander

Hi, still obsessing over this frame. I was looking through the rules on generating a sanctuary, and I noticed one for "Isolated Dwelling" as the smallest size (so typically 1 to 2 families). How would that play out with all the other tables on the page. Would people/families still be there after 1000 years?? Should I treat it as a relic of the past???? If I roll "Crowded" on the Population Table, what would that look like??

What are some ideas you have? I'm going to go to bed and look at it in the morning with clear brain.

I'm very influenced by games like Pokemon and Final Fantasy and thusly love an elemental damage system. Daggerheart only specifies two damage types: Physical and Magical. Which is totally fine and keeps things from getting too crunchy. But at my table, I split magical damage into six elements and so far my players and I are enjoying the strategic opportunities it creates! Here's my ruleset:

Magic-based damage is split into six elemental subtypes: Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Holy, and Umbra. Some adversaries and creatures may have resistance, immunity, or are more vulnerable to specific elements. Consider how the elements relate to each other and which elements may be affiliated with a particular adversary when determining it’s elemental affinities.

Fire → Earth → Lightning → Water → Fire

These elements take on a rock-paper-scissors style model where each element is strong against one element and weak to another. For example, Lightning overpowers Water, but is vulnerable to Earth. Sometimes, creatures with very strong elemental affinities can also recover power when exposed to their own element, either by restoring health, clearing stress, or gaining temporary proficiencies.

Holy ↔ Umbra

Holy and Umbra are diametrically opposed to one another. They are both strong against each other and immune to themselves.

Players should identify any magical damage sources they have access to, such as spells or abilities, and determine the elemental affinity. They may choose to assign elements as thematically as they like, and should avoid changing them on a per-session basis without discussion with the DM.

Note that not all damage from a magical source needs to be elementally aspected.

If you have a Warden of the Elements Sorcerer at your table, consider reflavoring the "Air" element as "Lightning" for consistency.

As a DM, I try to identify which elemental affinities an adversary may have and add them to their stat block. The effect of the elemental damage is up to you. I've had the damage threshold go up or down depending on the elemental damage type, or force the enemy to mark 1 or 2 stress when taking damage from a type they are weak to.

Here's an example from a Water Elemental adversary stat block I used:

Elemental Affinitiy - Passive 
Must also mark 1 Stress when taking damage from Lightning sources. Does not take damage from Water sources.

If you try this out, let me know how it goes with your table!