Critical Role‘s Daggerheart, a new game long in development from Darrington Press, will officially release on May 20, 2025. Daggerheart’s Open Beta Playtest in summer 2024 was a turning point for the game, allowing 150,000 players to share their insights, test its mechanics, and give feedback that helped shape the game’s direction. According to the designers, this feedback helped refine the system’s fast-paced combat, deepening collaborative storytelling elements, and ensuring the system felt dynamic and responsive.
“We built Daggerheart from the ground up to be a toolbox for crafting heartfelt, epic tales of adventure, and we’re so excited for the finished game to finally be in people’s hands,” said game designers Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall. “Through years of hard work, with an army of collaborators, and thanks to an incredible open beta playtest with the community, the game is now ready for you to make your own. We look forward to hearing about all the campaigns you build, the enemies you slay, and the stories you tell at the table together!”
Darrington Press says Daggerheart represents “the next evolution in tabletop roleplaying”, with new features they hope will be big changes to the usual RPG format.
- Hope and Fear mechanics: Daggerheart uses a “Duality Dice system”, which uses two twelve-sided dice (d12s)—one representing Hope and the other Fear. Players roll these dice to determine the outcome of actions, with Hope and Fear representing the ebb and flow of the story.
- Worldbuilding tools: Daggerheart enables players to collaborate with the GM to shape and explore a world brimming with magic, ancient secrets, and ever-present dangers.
- Ready-made “campaign frames”: Six ready-made frameworks provide inspiration, tools, and mechanics to support a specific story your table can tell, from the cozy cooking and dungeoneering campaign fame of “Beast Feast” to the post-apocalyptic world of technological marvels in “Motherboard.”
- Card-based gameplay: Players track their abilities with cards rather than using a book for reference during the game.
The Daggerheart Core Set ($59.99 USD) includes:
- A 300-page, lavishly illustrated hardcover rulebook that covers character creation, worldbuilding, and Game Master tools, alongside examples of play and tutorials.
- 279 illustrated cards featuring Ancestry, Community, Subclass, and Domain cards.
The Limited Edition Core Set ($149.99 USD) includes everything in the Core Set and:
- An upgraded box with a wraparound cover that holds the hardcover rulebook as well as a magnet-closing box that slides out to reveal all your cards and additional accessories.
- Alternate cover artwork
- A Game Master screen, with art facing the players and quick reference information on the game master side regarding mechanics, difficulty, making moves, rewarding hope and using fear, and more.
- A rip pad that contains all the sheets needed for play
- A full set of 9 standard dice (d4, d6, d8, two percentile d10s, d12, and d20) as well as two d12s of differing colors for Hope and Fear dice, all held within a satin drawstring bag.
- A set of 102 acrylic crystal tokens for tracking Fear, modifiers to rolls, counters on cards, etc.
Pre-orders for Daggerheart are open at Daggerheart.com, offering both Standard and Limited Edition sets. Starting May 20, the game will be available at Darrington Press Guild stores, friendly local game stores, and Critical Role shops (US, UK, CA, AU, and EU). Starting June 3, the Daggerheart Core Set will be available everywhere else that books and games are sold, thanks to the recent Darrington Press partnership with Macmillan Publishers. The Limited Edition Core Set will remain an exclusive offering at Darrington Press Guild stores and Critical Role shops.
Daggerheart games will be available to play this year at UK Games Expo (Birmingham, May 30 – June 1), Gen Con (Indianapolis, July 31 – August 3), and PAX Unplugged (Philadelphia, November 21 – 23), with more to come.
Images via Darrington Press
Have strong thoughts about this piece you need to share? Or maybe there’s something else on your mind you’re wanting to talk about with fellow Fandomentals? Head on over to our Community server to join in the conversation!
