This week I discuss player best practices presented in the Daggerheart core book. Keeping these in mind will enhance any tabletop RPG you play, not just Daggerheart. The first, and I’d say fundamental, best practice is to embrace danger. At the heart of this and the other best practices is to choose the interesting choice, the choice that makes a better story, not necessarily the optimal or most tactical or strategic choice. We don’t “win” at these games by always succeeding, never failing. We win by creating an awesome story together. A story where the PCs always succeed is a pretty boring story. The key to making this all work at your table is to establish and maintain trust among the GM and players. And a big part of building and maintaining that trust is how you handle PC death at your table. Daggerheart has some really great guidelines for all of this. I also go over how hit points, death moves, and scars work in Daggerheart.

Play Daggerheart with Me on Start Playing Games.

Sign up for my newsletter.

Subscribe via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Check out my sci-fi novel, Critical Balance.

Have you read Critical Balance? Please leave a review on Amazon.

Follow me on Bluesky.

Join my Discord server.

Email me.

Check out my YouTube channel.

Join my Book Club, now on Discord.

Check Out my OTHER PODCAST - Lex Out Loud

Call the Game Master's Journey voice mail: 951-GMJ-LEX1 (951-465-5391).

Today I talk about Fear in Daggerheart, a metacurrency used by the GM. Some GMs consider metacurrency to be a bad word. So how do the metacurrencies of Hope and Fear work in DH? Are they boons or flaws? Pros or cons? Buffs or debuffs? I’ll unpack it in this episode. I show how in my experience Fear hasn’t limited my creativity or prevented me from doing things I want to do. I discuss how fear is an excellent pacing tool, especially in combat, and how it really helps the GM dial in the difficulty of combat to exactly where they want it to be. Though at first blush Fear may appear to limit your options as GM, I haven’t felt like it does in practice. But it does make me feel like I can be more strategic and tactical, all while experiencing significantly less cognitive load than I’d experience running a similar combat in D&D. Fear also helps the players see that what you’re doing is totally fair and earned by their choices and actions. I also don’t have to feel bad when those consequences are unpleasant to the PCs.

Play Daggerheart with Me on Start Playing Games.

Sign up for my newsletter.

Subscribe via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Check out my sci-fi novel, Critical Balance.

Have you read Critical Balance? Please leave a review on Amazon.

Follow me on Bluesky.

Join my Discord server.

Email me.

Check out my YouTube channel.

Join my Book Club, now on Discord.

Check Out my OTHER PODCAST - Lex Out Loud

Call the Game Master's Journey voice mail: 951-GMJ-LEX1 (951-465-5391).

Today continue my series on Daggerheart with an in-depth explanation and exploration of its initiative system. I was very excited to try Daggerheart’s “lack of initiative initiative,” which is a bit of a misnomer. Daggerheart does have an initiative system, it’s just not like the ones you’re probably used to. I’m here to report that it works very well, and I really like it. I also talk a bit about how Daggerheart encourages metagame discussions between the GM and players at the table, and why I’m hugely in favor of this. Some people are averse to metagame discussions. But I show how they can greatly enhance your game, and I’d go so far as to say they’re required to deliver the experience and story everyone at the table wants.

Play Daggerheart with Me on Start Playing Games.

Sign up for my newsletter.

Subscribe via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Check out my sci-fi novel, Critical Balance.

Have you read Critical Balance? Please leave a review on Amazon.

Follow me on Bluesky.

Join my Discord server.

Email me.

Check out my YouTube channel.

Join my Book Club, now on Discord.

Check Out my OTHER PODCAST - Lex Out Loud

Call the Game Master's Journey voice mail: 951-GMJ-LEX1 (951-465-5391).