How I Daggerheart
There have been more than a few discussions on the Sly Flourish Discord server (one of my favorite places on the RPG internet) about how Daggerheart games proceed. This post is my (first?) post of tips and tricks for how I run my Dh table.
For context: I'm about 25 sessions into a Daggerheart campaign. I'm the GM; I have 4 players, 3 of whom are accomplished GMs in their own right. Before Daggerheart, I ran a bunch of 5E and Delta Green. I joined the hobby in 2021.
Everything here is my own style and preference, and has emerged over the course of my campaign. Some of it may be RAW, some less so. I do not claim that what's below is CORRECT, only that it's worked well for my table. (No players have quit...yet.)
My hope in writing these is to generate more conversation in the Daggerheart community about these topics, and to find other Dh GMs who'd like to swap stories.
Don't Worry About The Hope & Fear Economy or the Narration Thereof.
I run with a Fear tracker visible to my players (as well as all Countdowns). I don't keep track of my players' character stats (like Hope, Armor, HP, Stress). When a PC rolls an Action Roll with Hope or Fear, I generally don't narrate anything about the world more significant than "Gain a Hope" or "Mark a Stress."
I see a bit of consternation in the community on this point. "Isn't it stressful to improvise something every time the PCs roll, along 5 different possible outcomes?" Yes, that would be stressful. I avoid that stress by just...not doing it.
The scenes I've run are dynamic enough: battles, negotiations, discussions, chases, ascents, whatever. My players are wildly creative; they are constantly "yes, and..."-ing me and each other. We don't need an added source of change or prompt to make the scenes work.
The same applies to having Fear or burning players' Hope. The economy and game mechanics, especially during a combat sequence, will replace these resources. They are meant to be lost and gained constantly.
So: don't worry. Just grab a Fear token, take the Spotlight, and move on.
Combat is Volleyball, not Handegg Football
Speaking of combat...the way I run Daggerheart combat is about ping-ponging back and forth between the PCs and my adversaries. The PCs go, I go, they go, I go, and so on. I don't run it like "side" initiative, where I need to get all my adversaries to "go" before the PCs act again. There are no "rounds."
I take the spotlight, attempt to provoke some kind of "oh, shit" reaction from the players, and pass the spotlight back once I'm done.
Sometimes, this means my baddies get stomped. Other times, it means I spend 3-4 Fear at a time before something scary happens. Still other times, I only need to make 1 spotlight move to do this. (Ed. Note: Arrowed will never forget the time he rolled d20s for damage and the PCs all collectively lost their shit.)
If you're coming from 5E or similar games, you might want all the adversaries on the field to do something before they get slaughtered. I get that impulse ... but that's not what I do. I just need to tee-up some baller tag team move or dramatic moment, and let the brilliant players do the rest.
Listen to your Players & Plan a Small Amount
I have the privilege of playing in 2.5-hour sessions weekly. This means I don't really need to prep too far beyond my secrets and clues, because players can only get through so much in that timeframe.
Whenever I reveal a secret or clue (which I "float" across my prep, untethered to a scene or NPC, and drop whenever possible during the session), I try to pay attention to what bits resonate with the players. Then, in advance of the next session, I try to spiral out more secrets and clues based on what worked - and ignore/delete/delay stuff that doesn't.
What's nice about this is I can still have longer-term plots (Ed. Note: He knows this is a dirty word and GMs are supposed to "prep situations, not plots." Sorry. He's incorrigible.) while respecting player agency. Ideally, each session we advance toward some bigger moment in a way that is in line with what players want to do.
To Sum Up
OK, this post is probably too long! I hope it helps. How do you run Daggerheart? Do you do everything wildly differently? Great! Tell me about it in the comments.
