Vol 23: Traps & Tension
Devious devices, army antics, and Dungeon Crawler Carl. Then, a planetary playtest, gnolls and demons, and a Bastion of Hope. There’s a primer on pacing, an analysis of armour, and meditations on metaphysics. Bonus: a Daggerheart database and a narrative mystery framework.
SPOTLIGHT
Like many of us, I was charmed by Nick Nelson's TRAPS, a compendium of 24 unique lures that sit somewhere between Adversary and Environment. Not because he writes, designs, and illustrates the kit. That's impressive. No, the charm comes from the gleeful cover illustration and how it captures both the joy of devious devices and game aesthetics of the '90s. Bring on the blades!
NEWS & RELEASES
Holy Trinity
If you’re in SoCal next week, Spenser, Rowan, and Elise are holding court at WonderCon. They’ll join panels to discuss their publishing adventures and Darrington behind-the-scenes, while Rowan will cap the weekend interviewing her bearded partner in crime.
Good AI
SoCal not your scene? How about Boston? Acquisitions Incorporated, now fully draped in Daggerheart, returns to the stage at PAX East next Saturday, March 28. The whole gang joins, along with newly minted Mark Mercer, and streams @8pm.
Roll Call
"D&D feels a lot like the DM saying "I have built this thing for you. Come discover this thing I have built." and that's somewhat the story. Daggerheart, on the other hand, feels more "I have the blueprint for this thing. Come build this thing with me." That's Joe Zieja—aka Captain Atticus Fray—from the Rigamaroll AMA. The indie AP debuted a couple of months ago to big numbers and has quickly become regular viewing for players and GMs alike.
Commission Impossible
If you didn’t think they were in it to win it, Heart of Daggers is going as far as to commission 150 character portraits for all Daggerheart classes and subclasses displayed on the platform. This is on top of their original 2,000+ icons and images for the Homebrew Vault. WTF is in the lager down under?
Coding Builds Character
While he built it for him and his buddies and may remain a side project, I found @spoogooter’s character sheet builder to be elegant, smart, and fast.
Road from Perdition
"Get out of hell" is the pitch for Demonheart, a new book from UK-based DRS Publishing coming to Kickstarter. You start at the lowest levels of hell and work your way up, activating new Domains based on the seven deadly sins. The plan is a 450-page compendium, complete with new classes, subclasses, Domains, Adversaries, a setting, and an adventure.
Burn Notice
I like Mike. Mike Underwood, Magic Mike, Monster Mike… all the Mikes are great. But what I really like is angry Mike. If you can't feel their rage about the State of the Union vibrating through this cover, what are you even doing with those Fear tokens? Arrives Spring 2026.
DISCUSSIONS
Army Antics
The question “How do you roleplay an army?” elicited a few practical suggestions—build it like an Environment, treat them as Hordes—but I was intrigued by Seth Mackenzie’s idea: design them like a Colossus.
“Each part could be a battalion. And just like Colossus, they could all have their own features, and the army could be defeated in various ways depending on [the] battalions weaknesses or player’s creativity. Colossi have a weakspot (usually the head) that when destroyed defeats them—that could be the general of the army or the headquarters.”
Paws for Thought
In a world with magic, what—and how much—can a Ranger’s pet or a tree in the forest actually know? Those questions had thrown a GM during a recent session, so PrestigiousEmu helpfully reminded them: magic is on a dial. Pets and plants aren’t omniscient nor necessarily helpful. Use restraint, work with your players, and you’ll find a common sense solution to uncommon communication.
