Vol 18: Azerim & Artwork
Kiwi kooks, platform plays, and convoluted combat. Then, bandits and brigands take a beating, time folds in on itself, and artwork from the ages. Plus: tips for editing your RPG, the Nakatomi Tower as dungeon, inspo from ILM, and a journey inward.
SPOTLIGHT
Viva La Dirt League brings their comedic madness to Daggerheart via Azerim, a 30-part series launching Jan 27 (Jan 13 on Beacon). From what I’ve seen, the logline is “Beast Feast turns into cosmic horror.” But absurdly. And with Kiwi slang and cursing.
NEWS & RELEASES
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Lots of outlets picking up Business Insider’s year-end story on how Daggerheart befuddled Darrington’s projections by 2500%, with a one-year supply selling out in two weeks. The article is light, but touches on several CR/DP topics of interest.
Veni, Vidi, VTT
The Heart of Daggers mothership arrived, its many tentacles outstretched, its many features on display. Combing through the January update—and having used several of the tools over the holiday—it’s clear this team is ambitious. What they’ve built is smart, integrated, and leagues ahead of everyone. But as they increasingly resemble a VTT, my questions now are less “can they pull it off?” and more “will Darrington bless, block, or buy them?”
Level Ups
Not to be overlooked, Duality Codex rolled into the year with their own slew of feature updates. So too Heartforge, the iOS/Android campaign manager, which added import/export options for homebrew and maps, timelines, and canvases.
Room for Runeterra?
Bound in White, an Arcane-inspired campaign frame, is looking for play-testers as it expands with new ancestries, subclasses, adversaries, and domains. It’s a well-crafted start for those hoping to eventually rub shoulders with a certain set of severed sisters.
Set the Table
Mike Underwood will be GMing a Daggerheart one-shot with The Naturolls to raise funds for Feeding America.
Eggs Over Easy
Hatchling Games, building towards their summer Kickstarter, has released a free solo journaling game based on Dragon Dowsers. It’s fun and lovingly crafted.
DISCUSSIONS
Convoluted Combat
Did Daggerheart shy too far from theatre-of-the-mind for combat? @FedericoValeri thinks so. A veteran GM who tired of D&D’s convoluted system and hoped DH would require less prep noted that, by keeping the grid and relying on attrition, DH combat lands in the mushy middle: not the propulsive narrative of Powered by the Apocalypse, nor the elegant engine of Draw Steel. His back-and-forth with adversary designer Chris Davidson suggests a future where combat design unwittingly backslides towards the D&D system many abandoned when choosing DH.
Soft Solos
Semi-related, are Adversaries too weak? There’s a growing consensus that Solos need buffing, as discussed in this thread, and one way is through Environments. But while environmental actions are intended to create dynamic encounters, there is cognitive overhead and diminishing returns if a GM has to spin plates for Passives, Actions, and Reactions across additional Adversaries and an Environment. Caveat emptor.
Ante Social
A question about running an interrogation scene led to several suggestions, chief among them a social encounter example by aforementioned Chris Davidson.
Redistricting
In a reply to a poll about battle grids, distance rulers, and TotM, this reply about using zones to simplify combat floated to the top. I commented inline about Evil Hat cofounder Rob Donoghue’s post on the subject.
Card Trick
Speaking of, Donoghue wonders if Daggerheart’s cards are what truly differentiate it from D&D and its many doppelgängers.
Torches Interference
An OP planning to nix PC light sources so they could apply Shadowdark’s claustrophobic torch mechanics was met with this thoughtful response:
"Maybe it’s just me, but, “I have a worldbuilding idea, so I’m going to make your Abilities suck a bit,” never feels good. I’d leave the PC’s Abilities alone, but make an Environment effect that fights against any lighting. Like, no matter what light you use—flame or magic—it’s half as bright as normal, and fades over time as the environment “eats” the light. Subtle difference I guess, but, “this place fights against light” feels better to me than, “your Ability fundamentally isn’t as good as it should be.” It also means you don’t need to adjust every specific spell.”
VIBE CHECK
🎯 GM TIPS
Medieval Combat
The YouTube algorithm decided it was time to introduce me to Dequitem, a non-choreographed fighter whose spare, un-scored videos are a window into the realities of medieval combat. Take a look at this scenario where four peasants wind up on the wrong side of a local knight.
The power, momentum, and unassailability of an armoured combatant is as shocking as the fight is brief, erratic, and lethal. (There’s a rapier duel with men in pantaloons and blouses if you’re looking for something more swashbuck-ly.)
Dequitem’s catalog demonstrates dozens of different fighting styles, weapon choices, and strategies that can inform how you characterize an encounter, and offer insights to your players as they circle each other in combat. While we’re all here to play medieval superheroes, sometimes our fate hangs on the mechanics of two soup cans fighting in the shadow of a castle.
Bonus: David the Arrow Bard explains the differences between RPG weapons and reality.
MORE
Phil from Reaction Roll has a recent trio of best practices videos you’ll find helpful. (Aside: Much respect for him and his channel. Several creators swerved into the Daggerheart lane only to veer away when they didn’t get the traffic. Phil stayed the course and is building a valuable catalogue as he grows with the base.)
🍺 HOMEBREW
One-Shot Madlibs
The Bureau of Chronological Affairs’ Jack Panic is back with an inventive one-sheet for one-shots.
I was particularly drawn to the Improvised Fear Moves (as was Mike Underwood), a table that is utilitarian (roll and grab) and inspirational (you can modify it endlessly).
I could see this structure making its way into the CRB and 3P modules given the flexibility it offers designers and GMs who prefer improvisation over structure.
Panic has a few other goodies he’s been adding to his Daggerheart collection, including a Doomspiral spell, a dual countdown Environment called Enter Evil, a mech suit Environment titled Heavy Metal, and the Weather Wizard, a simple tool for adjusting the weather while travelling.
MORE:
The folks behind the upcoming sci-fi expansion book The New Unknown shared their Class Roster.
🌎 CAMPAIGN FRAME
The Infinity Train Job
I did not intend to devote two sections in this edition to Jack Panic/DNGN CLUB, but dammit—just look at this amazing new adventure.
The Infinity Train Job is a heist adventure set in the world of The Bureau of Chronological Affairs. Here’s the pitch:
A rogue entity known as THE CONDUCTOR has assembled an impossible weapon: an endless train built from stolen fragments of infinite Timelines, aimed directly at THE AFTER. If the train reaches THE END OF LINE, all of Time/Space goes with it. C.L.O.C. has located a single unstable Threshold leading to a distant station. From there, Agents must infiltrate the train, navigate shifting realities, and reach the ENGINE before the DOOM'S DAY PROTOCOL is triggered.
Give Jack his flowers for turning the Wallace and Gromit bit into an adventure. Add bonbons for designing a poster-worthy cover. Brilliant all around.
One of the joys of the Daggerheart platform is experiencing its emergent stars—people who break through with ideas designed specifically for the system. Jack is a standout who, like Carlos Cisco (Pistolheart), brings an inventive, jocular, and entirely unique style to the table. Like Darrington, he’s just getting started—and I can’t wait to see what unfolds (in whatever time dimension he gives us).
Bonus: Magic Mike Underwood has, rather fittingly, a new livestream where he designs a time loop Environment.
🎨 CRAFTY
Over on r/OSR, @zoetrope shared a monster list of public-domain art—mostly from Google’s antique book scanning projects—organized by periods, styles, and artists. The public-domain pedigree is hard to trace, however, so it’s best to think of these for non-commercial use. That aside, not only is the art worth hoarding, but so too the books, often 19th-century editions of stories ranging from Beowulf and Chaucer to Shakespeare and the Brothers Grimm.
Bonus: For the hoarders at the back of the room: Exeunt Press has two excellent posts highlighting dozens of additional sources of public domain art, along with an example from MÖRK BORG about how tricky it is to use commercially.
All Cards on the Table
Over on the Discord, @equiste shared an Affinity Publisher file featuring all the Daggerheart Class, Ancestry, Community, Transformation, and Spell cards. (Be sure to read the thread as he and other members continue to iterate on the format and sheet layouts.)
MORE
- Ten Intangible Tips for Development Editing Your RPG Manuscript
- Evil Hat Shares Their Revenue Across Distribution Channels
🛠️ TOOLS & RESOURCES
The floors of Nakatomi Tower from Die Hard, reimagined as a dungeon. There’s a whole adventure that goes along with this, though you’ll have to convert it from 5e. (Maybe if enough of you ask, Redcap Press will oblige.)
A progressive map of a medieval settlement, from demitasse to grande. Available to clone and edit on Inkarnate.
The Roundup:
- Our friend @juanin has a free Witherwild art pack up on their ko-fi.
- More Jack Panic? He’s designed custom character sheets for BCA.
- All Daggerheart maps, coloured and connected. Here’s the hi-res version.
- @RepairHistorical made some store inventories for Colossus of The Drylands.
INSPO
Bland is the ironic last name of Emily Bland, an ILM artist whose fantastical, epic work spans genres and tones, from seedy sci-fi bars to warm-hearted dragon encounters. Her composition, lighting, and textures are off the charts, but it’s her ability to tell a story with a single frame that’s most arresting. May we all aspire to convey so much with so little space.
STORYTELLING
The Heroine's Journey
We all know Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Luke Skywalker gets a call to adventure, is tested by enemies, faces ordeals, and inevitably transforms into his higher self.
Probably fewer of us have heard of Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey, a response to Campbell’s framework that revisits the cycle from the female perspective. I certainly hadn’t.
That’s why I was surprised and thrilled to stumble across Amy Allebest’s video. She explains the ten stages in Murdock’s Journey and holds a mirror to the vastly different experiences women face as they set out to conquer the world. Not “it’s harder,” but a different path that leads them to a place of crisis, collapse, renewal, and union.
Natch, this topic goes beyond Daggerheart and TTRPG games, but this half-hour can deepen how you think about women at your table and female characters in general. Yes, a woman does want to slay a dragon. But she may equally want to connect to a mother she left behind, or better understand how to balance the masculine and feminine in her body and soul.
Narrative-driven games like Daggerheart require an understanding of personal conflict and inner meaning as much as spell rituals and zone-based combat. That’s not to say your campaigns need become mumblecore and natter endlessly about vague feelings. But personal journeys, especially the less explored ones faced by women, can create epic dramas and revelations at your table if you give them a chance.
ETC
TTRPG School: Required reading
