Vol 15: Classes & Craftwork

SPOTLIGHT

Yes, Age of Umbra was a few months ago, and Halloween a couple weeks ago. But that shouldn't stop us from applauding Darrington Producer Brooke Eyler for her depiction of Skreev (Liam O'Brien's Slyborne Rogue) and Misty (Ashley Johnson's Highborne Bard, above). There are cosplayers, and then there are cosplayers.

UPDATES

Drakkenheim Dunkshot

The Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Publishing overdelivered as the first Darrington-approved Daggerheart campaign, with Dungeons of Drakkenheim reaching its Kickstarter goal at the 13min mark (TBF, lowballed for the PR kick) and, as of this writing, 15x oversubscribed. Ghostfire released a full starter frame as part of the launch, while Kelly and Monty converted their D&D characters to Daggerheart, then hosted an AMA with Spenser Starke and Matt Mercer. Exceptional execution for a beloved property.

Hero to Zero Forge

Hero Forge did slightly less well with their launch of the Daggerheart Ancestry Collection. The custom miniature maker received immediate blowback from their subscribers for adding a separate charge for the collection, and paywalling the ability to evaluate the assets (screenshotting tokens and DIY printing them is a common practice). Hero Forge quickly walked back the offer and generously refunded buyers, but also noted that, without additional fees, licensed deals would be unsustainable—despite their own surveys telling them the (possibly silent) majority of their customers want them.

Adventuring Enneagrams

Rowan Hall took to the socials to ask what your Class choice says about you. I was left wondering what Class is addicted to chicken nuggets.

Beastform

Foundryborne—the community-built Foundry VTT module—released their v1.2 with a massive set of new features and upgrades. It’s unclear if an official module is in the works, but at this point I don’t see how anything catches up to this team—both b/c of the pace and quality of their work, and b/c Foundry attracts the kind of technically-minded GM who appreciates this open-source, hacker-ethos spirit.

Laying Tracks

Owlbear Rodeo has added a new extension for tracking resources like HP, Stress, Hope, and armour. The associated animations and SFX are lovely, while the GM<>Player status sharing looks effortless. 

Grounded Fantasy

A sign of an oversaturated VTT market was news that Fantasy Grounds has gone free-to-play, hoping to make up the loss of subscription fees through new members buying more licensed goods (Daggerheart soon to be one of them). But it’ll be a slog. Peeling away even 10% from Roll20 or D&D Beyond’s tens of millions of users would still leave them short of the steady revenue once guaranteed by paid subs—and module splits aren’t nearly as lucrative. 

Plucky Plugins

Daggerforge, the first official Obsidian Community Plugin for Daggerheart, quickly iterated from their recent update with a slate of new inline features, including a battle guide calculator and dice roller. That same day, BeastVault updated with an equally impressive feature suite, adding color customization and canvas integration. Clearly these two are, as per the Rezendes Chant, just getting started. 

Face/Off

Old Gus overhauled character creation on the indispensable DHSRD. The guided tour of character options is ideal for those who don’t own the CRB and are playing without a VTT.

DISCUSSIONS

Blood Test

Forensic deep-dives on the new Blood Domain and Blood Hunter Class have surfaced on the sub. The verdict so far isn’t much different than a visit with your doctor: decent vitals, some aches and pains, and a few markers worth monitoring at the next check-in.

The Tyranny of Tiers

Should you give higher tier equipment to lower tier players—if not at least for the narrative fun? That was u/OgreManDudeGuy’s question that kicked off a worthwhile thread about when and how to bestow increasingly better equipment to your players. I particularly liked u/firesshadow42’s simple Game of Throne’s hierarchy: Valerian Steel (T4) vs Castleforged Steel (T3) vs Plain Steel (T2) vs Iron (T1).