Core Rules
Daggerheart is a conversation. The GM describes scenes; the players describe how their characters react. The rules resolve moments of tension where fate decides the outcome.
The Duality Dice
All action rolls use a pair of d12s called the Duality Dice — one represents Hope, the other Fear. Roll both, sum the results, add any modifiers, and compare to a Difficulty number.
- Success with Hope — total meets Difficulty and the Hope Die is higher: you succeed and gain a Hope.
- Success with Fear — total meets Difficulty and the Fear Die is higher: you succeed with a cost, and the GM gains a Fear.
- Failure with Hope — total below Difficulty and the Hope Die is higher: minor consequence, gain a Hope, spotlight swings to the GM.
- Failure with Fear — total below Difficulty and the Fear Die is higher: major consequence, GM gains a Fear, spotlight swings to the GM.
- Critical Success — the dice match: automatic success with a bonus, gain a Hope, and clear a Stress. On an attack you deal critical damage.
Reaction rolls work like action rolls but never generate Hope or Fear and can't be aided with Help an Ally. A critical success on a reaction roll doesn't clear Stress or grant Hope, but it lets you ignore any effects that would still hit you on a success.
Traits
Your character has six traits, each with a modifier from −1 to +2:
- Agility — sprint, leap, maneuver
- Strength — lift, smash, grapple
- Finesse — control, hide, tinker
- Instinct — perceive, sense, navigate
- Presence — charm, perform, deceive
- Knowledge — recall, analyze, comprehend
A trait roll is an action roll that uses one trait, written like "Agility Roll (12)". Your Spellcast trait (if you have one) comes from your subclass and is used for all Spellcast Rolls.
Advantage adds a d6 to your pool; disadvantage subtracts a d6. They cancel one-for-one.
Hope & Fear
Hope is a personal metacurrency. Every PC starts with 2 and can hold up to 6. You gain Hope on rolls with Hope and can spend it to:
- Help an Ally — describe how you help and roll an advantage die
- Utilize an Experience — add its modifier to a relevant roll
- Initiate a Tag Team Roll — spend 3 Hope to combine two PCs' actions
- Activate a Hope Feature — class features that cost 3 Hope to activate
Fear is the GM's metacurrency (max 12), gained whenever a player rolls with Fear, and spent to make or enhance GM moves and activate Fear Features.
Health, Stress & Damage
- Hit Points (HP) — an abstract measure of physical health. When you take damage, you mark 1–3 HP based on your damage thresholds: Severe damage marks 3, Major marks 2, below Major marks 1. Your thresholds are your armor's base thresholds plus your level (unarmored: Major = level, Severe = 2 × level). Max 12 HP slots.
- Armor Slots — your Armor Score is the number of Armor Slots you can mark. Mark one Armor Slot to reduce damage severity by one threshold (Severe → Major → Minor → Nothing). You can mark at most one Armor Slot per attack.
- Stress — marks mental and emotional strain. All PCs start with 6 Stress slots (max 12). Marking your last Stress makes you Vulnerable. If you must mark Stress but can't, mark 1 HP instead.
- Damage types — physical (phy) and magic (mag). Resistance halves; immunity ignores.
Conditions
- Hidden — rolls against you have disadvantage; ends when an adversary sees you or you attack.
- Restrained — you can't move, but can still act from where you are.
- Vulnerable — rolls targeting you have advantage.
Temporary conditions can be cleared with a successful action roll; special conditions state how they end.
Ranges
Melee (touch), Very Close (5–10 ft), Close (10–30 ft), Far (30–100 ft), Very Far (100–300 ft), then Out of Range. A stated range is a maximum — you can always act at closer distances. Under pressure you can move into Melee range with anything within Very Close or Close range as part of your action; closing from Far or Very Far needs an Agility Roll.
Downtime
During a rest each PC can make two downtime moves:
- Short rest (about an hour): swap domain cards freely, then Tend to Wounds (clear 1d4 + Tier HP), Clear Stress (1d4 + Tier), Repair Armor (1d4 + Tier Armor Slots), or Prepare (gain a Hope; 2 if you prepare with the party). The GM gains 1d4 Fear.
- Long rest (camping/sleep): swap domain cards freely, then clear all HP, Stress, and Armor Slots, Prepare, or Work on a Project. The GM gains 1d4 + the number of PCs Fear and may advance a countdown.
Three short rests in a row force a long rest.
Death
When you mark your last Hit Point, make a death move: Blaze of Glory (one final automatic critical, then you die), Avoid Death (fall unconscious and roll your Hope Die — if it's ≤ your level you gain a scar), or Risk It All (roll the Duality Dice — Hope Die higher: stay up and clear that many HP/Stress; Fear Die higher: you die; matching: clear everything).
Leveling Up
The party levels together at narrative milestones (usually every ~3 sessions), from 1 to 10 across four tiers: Tier 1 (level 1), Tier 2 (2–4), Tier 3 (5–7), Tier 4 (8–10).
- Tier achievements — at levels 2, 5, and 8 you gain a new Experience at +2 and a permanent +1 to Proficiency. At levels 5 and 8 you also clear the marks on traits you've increased, so you can raise them again.
- Advancements: each level, choose two from your tier or below — increase two unmarked traits by +1 (marking them), add HP or Stress slots, increase Experiences, take an additional domain card, increase Evasion, take an upgraded subclass card, increase Proficiency, or multiclass.
- Damage thresholds all increase by 1 each level.
- Domain cards: acquire a new card at or below your level from your class's domains; you can swap vault/loadout cards.
- Multiclassing unlocks at level 5.
The Full Rulebook
This chapter is the fast pass. The complete rules — the Duality Dice in full, every roll type, evasion, stress, countdowns, downtime, death, and the complete weapon and armor tables — live in the reference library. Start at <@l-core-mechanics.reference> and open its sub-pages as you need them; when anything here and the rulebook ever disagree, the rulebook wins.
