What is Daggerheart? A Beginner’s Guide to Critical Role’s New TTRPG

Daggerheart is a brand-new tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) developed by Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role. Officially revealed in 2023 and now rolling out in 2025, Daggerheart is designed to offer a fresh take on fantasy roleplaying with streamlined mechanics, narrative-driven rules, and an accessible system for both new and veteran players alike.

🗡️ What Makes Daggerheart Different from Dungeons & Dragons?

While Daggerheart shares the core fantasy DNA of games like Dungeons & Dragons, it makes several bold changes that set it apart:

• Card-based character creation: Instead of building a character from tables and lists, you use a mix of cards representing your ancestry, class, community, and values.
• 2d12 dice system: Daggerheart replaces the iconic d20 with two twelve-sided dice (2d12), creating a bell curve for more predictable outcomes and less swingy randomness.
• Hope and Fear mechanics: These narrative tools give characters emotional stakes and powerful scene-shaping bonuses.
• Community-focused gameplay: Your party helps define the world through shared goals, moral beliefs, and a central community the characters protect or represent.

🎲 How to Play Daggerheart: A Quickstart Overview

Daggerheart is built to be fast to learn and highly collaborative. Here's a quick breakdown of the main components and how to play:

1. Create Your Character

• Choose your Ancestry (Elf, Human, Orc, etc.) and Class (Knight, Trickster, Mage, etc.).
• Draw cards that define your Community and Values.
• Answer prompts on your cards to flesh out your backstory and ideals.

2. Core Mechanic: The 2d12 Roll

• Whenever you attempt something risky, you roll 2d12 + your relevant modifier.
• A result of 13 or higher usually means success, but outcomes vary depending on the narrative context.

3. Hope and Fear Tokens

• Hope can be spent to gain advantage (roll extra dice or re-rolls).
• Fear might force you to act rashly or fail in dramatic ways.

4. Narrative-First Combat

• Combat is fast-paced and rooted in player creativity and storytelling.
• Damage, positioning, and abilities are streamlined to encourage cinematic moments over tactical grid movement.

📜 Is Daggerheart Right for Your Table?

If you enjoy character-driven storytelling, emotional stakes, and collaborative worldbuilding, Daggerheart might be your new favorite game. It’s especially welcoming to new players who might find D&D’s rules overwhelming. That said, it still offers enough structure and variety to keep long-time roleplayers engaged.

🛠️ Where Can You Get Daggerheart?

Daggerheart is currently in public playtesting and is expected to release officially in late 2025. You can grab the free beta ruleset here to try it out at your table.

🔮 Final Thoughts

Daggerheart isn’t just another D&D clone — it’s a ground-up rethink of what makes fantasy TTRPGs fun and meaningful. With the powerhouse of Critical Role behind it, it’s poised to become one of the most important games in the next wave of tabletop roleplaying.

Want to gear up for your next adventure? Check out our collection of handcrafted dice, dice trays, and accessories at Ebonwood.