Game Reference

In each scene, the GM and players go back and forth describing what happens. If you make a move where the outcome is in question, and the success or failure of that move is interesting to the story, your move is an action and the GM calls for an action roll to determine the outcome. However, if an action is either easy to pull off without complication or impossible to perform, there's no need to roll — you already know the result!

You have a set list of options for upgrading your character. You can choose any two options with unmarked slots. Some options have multiple slots, meaning they can be chosen more than once. When you choose your advancement, mark the appropriate slot. Once all of an option's slots have been marked, you can't take that option again.

Some features let you roll with advantage or disadvantage on an action or reaction roll.

A high Agility means you're fast on your feet, nimble on difficult terrain, and quick to react to danger. You'll make an Agility Roll to scurry up a rope, sprint to cover, or bound from rooftop to rooftop.

Your Armor Score includes the armor's base value (shown in the "Base Score" column) plus any permanent bonuses your character has to their Armor Score from other abilities.

Some features impose a condition on your character (or an adversary). These are effects that grant specific benefits or drawbacks to the target they are applied to.

The number of Hit Points you mark when you take damage is determined by your damage thresholds. The threshold bar in the "Damage & Health" section of your character sheet shows the three thresholds of damage you can take: Minor, Major, and Severe.

When you mark your last Hit Point, you must make a death move. Choose one of the following options:

When you make an action roll, the roll will have a Difficulty — the number you need to reach or exceed when you roll. Often, the GM sets the roll's Difficulty based on the situation and how effective your approach might be. Some features provide this Difficulty in parentheses after the listed roll, such as an Agility Roll (13) or a Spellcast Roll (10). If you're making an action roll against an adversary, the Difficulty is found in their stat block.

Your active domain cards grant you special abilities or spells. Unless a domain card states otherwise, you can use it as many times as you wish, for as long as it remains in your loadout.

A party can choose to rest before they continue forward on their journey, and when they do, each PC has the chance to make two downtime moves. Though downtime is their chance to recover from the dangers they've faced, it's also an opportunity for characters to have important, emotional scenes with each other — to learn more about one another in their quiet moments together and have character-centric conversations they might not have had time for during big battles or high-intensity exploits.

The core dice in Daggerheart are a pair of d12s called Duality Dice. Choose two d12s of different colors (or if you prefer, different sizes or patterns) — one to represent Hope and the other to represent Fear. Your Duality Dice should be easily recognizable from each other at a glance. You'll use these dice any time you make an action roll.

Your character's Evasion reflects how hard it is for adversaries to hit them. When an adversary makes an attack against your character, the GM rolls against their Evasion to see if the adversary succeeds.

In Daggerheart, your character's Experiences are one of the core ways you express their backstory and expertise through mechanics. An Experience is a word or phrase used to encapsulate a specific set of skills your character has acquired over the course of their exciting life.

Hope and Fear are currencies used by the players and the GM to represent the way fate turns for or against the characters during the game.

A high Finesse means you're skilled at tasks that require accuracy, stealth, or the utmost control. You'll make a Finesse Roll to use fine tools, escape notice, or strike with precision.

While you're out of sight from all foes and they don't know where you are, you gain the Hidden condition. While Hidden, any rolls against you have disadvantage. After an adversary moves to where they would see you, you move into their line of sight, or you make an attack, you are no longer Hidden.

Your character's health and well-being are represented by Hit Points and Stress. Hit Points (sometimes called HP) are an abstract reflection of your physical fortitude and ability to take hits from both blade and magic. Each class starts with a set number of Hit Points.

Hope and Fear are currencies used by the players and the GM to represent the way fate turns for or against the characters during the game. You start with 2 Hope; mark these in the Hope field of your character sheet.

A Hope Feature is any effect that allows (or requires) you to spend Hope to activate its effects. If the text instructs you to "spend Hope," you must spend the specified number of Hope, or you can't trigger the Hope Feature.