Vol 2: Dice & Drama

SPOTLIGHT

Spin, Adventurer, Spin!

The Prophecy Dice combines seven RPG dice into a single, gear-driven spinner. Press the button, watch the dials whirl, and let the steel cogs deliver a random result with a crisp mechanical click. It’s already 40,000% overfunded on Kickstarter, so I’m not so much promoting it as beguiled by the idea and slack-jawed at its level of success.

UPDATES

Critical Roles

CR’s Chief Operating Officer and Head of Biz Dev sat for an interview with YouTube to talk Daggerheart, theatrical screenings, and the creator business. An intriguing takeaway? They’re scouting the next CR stars from the emerging Daggerheart community. If you’re in L.A., friends with talented actors—ideally some married, and some with credits on a critically acclaimed video game franchise—start streaming those weekly plays. They’re watching.

Camera Ready

Daggerheart lead designers Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall spent an hour with the lads from Total Party Skill, dishing on the game, homebrewing tantalizing spells and weapons, and generally carrying on as the affable chaos goblins we’ve come to expect. What I didn’t expect was to hear about the failed RPG that led to Daggerheart, and how the game’s inspiration is a movie camera.

DISCUSSIONS

Lost in Translation

On the sub, GMs reflected on the habits they’ve carried over from 5e and PF2e that don’t fit Daggerheart’s narrative-first play. Some key takeaways:

• Roll with stakes. Only call for a roll when the outcome will shape the story, when success or failure matter and create drama.
• Spend what you earn. Prompt players to spend their Hope and use their Experiences to drive the fiction. If players hoard them, the game stagnates. 
• Narrating everything yourself. GMs should invite players to describe scenes, consequences, and details.
• Keeping DCs secret. Players need to know the target to make informed, strategic choices.
• Designing rigid encounters. DH thrives on improvisation and leveraging Fear and GM moves.

Overall? Don’t stress perfection. Just aim to shed a few habits each session. Bonus: Have you been visiting Tadpole Thursdays? Newbies ask, experienced GMs answer.