What Do You Need to Play?¶

Most of the tools required to play a session of Daggerheart are included with this book, but there are a few additional components you'll need to gather before you begin.

2-5 Players¶

Daggerheart runs best with two to five players who are excited to collaborate and build a story together. If you're playing a PC, your responsibility is to adopt the mentality of your character and decide what they do. The GM will present problems and obstacles, and you'll figure out how to tackle those challenges in a way that makes your game most interesting. As a player, it's your job to shape your character's story through the choices you make and spotlight the other characters as they, too, grow on this journey.

A Game Master¶

If you're taking on the role of the GM, you'll be playing the world as it responds to the PCs' actions. That means you'll set exciting scenes for the characters, manage the flow of the story, and play any NPCs, including the adversaries the characters will face. You'll also ask the players questions that drive the narrative forward. Often, you'll be the one who knows the rules and can answer questions about mechanics during play. If a judgement needs to be made during a session about a rule or mechanic that's not in the rulebook, you'll be the one to make that decision.

As a GM, it's important to remember that you're not an antagonistic force against the players. Though you're the one introducing the dangers and complications in a scene, the challenges you provide are meant to let the players showcase their characters' strengths and face their characters' flaws. Be a fan of the characters and a collaborator with the other players at your table.

Game Dice¶

Daggerheart uses the full suite of polyhedral dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, and d100. When referring to a quantity beyond a single die, the game indicates how many and what kind, such as 2d6 (two six-sided dice) or 3d8 (three eight-sided dice). Players will need 2d12 of different colours (your Duality Dice) and at least one set of polyhedral dice to share amongst the table. You may find it easier for each person to have their own set. As your character levels up, you'll be rolling more dice to represent those advancements, so it may be helpful to bring another set or two. The GM will also need their own d20 to run adversaries.

Tokens¶

Character tokens are small objects that represent the look and feel of your character. Gather about seven tokens per player to start. You will need more as your character levels up—while the amount varies depending on the character build, you likely won't need more than fifteen tokens at level 10.

As you play the game, you'll use these tokens to help track several things:

• When you roll dice, you'll add tokens to help you easily count the modifiers on the roll.
• To use certain features, you might be required to place tokens on the card or character sheet.

These tokens not only make your rolls easier to resolve, but they also provide an opportunity to further express the style and colour palette of your character. You can use any small object (plastic gems, pennies, buttons), but we recommend something no larger than a quarter that can sit on the table without rolling away. Ideally, each player's tokens should be visually distinct to avoid confusion.

The GM can use tokens to track their accumulated Fear and as counters on adversary stat blocks.

Game Cards¶

Along with this rulebook, you'll also need the cards that come with the core set: ancestry, community, subclass, and domain cards. If you don't have a physical set of cards or need extra copies, you can download and print the cards at home. The "Domain Card Reference" section in the appendix also contains the text for cards from the core set.

Character Sheets and Notes¶

The appendix contains a general character sheet and the guides you can use to build your characters, but we recommend using the class-specific character sheets from www.daggerheart.com for the best experience. The remainder of this rulebook will assume you're using the class-specific sheets. If you're using pencil and paper, you'll want to have these materials printed out. If you're using a digital version instead, ensure you have a laptop or tablet available to view and edit your character sheet and guide during the game.

We also recommend paper and writing utensils (or a digital equivalent) to record important details that the GM or other players share.

Optional: Maps and Miniatures¶

You can use maps and miniatures to represent the scenarios the players are facing, especially during battle, to more fully illustrate the scene, rather than relying on only narration and description. When drawing or building a map, the scale, distance, and details won't always be perfect, and that's okay. The maps and the miniatures should never limit your imagination—only provide extra spatial context so everyone can picture the scene clearly.