D&D rival Daggerheart has opened pre-orders of its next rulebook, Hope and Fear. As of April 14, a standard and deluxe edition can be ordered from Critical Role and Darrington Press stores, as well as local game stores. Digital versions can be pre-ordered on Demiplane and DriveThruRPG. These early bird copies will arrive on August 25, while additional stores will begin stocking the title from September 22.
Daggerheart burst onto the TTRPG scene last May. It's a narrative-driven heroic fantasy that wears its cinematic actual play influences on its sleeve.
2d12, known as the Hope and Fear dice (and each with a narrative impact, depending on which rolls higher), drive the action. Players can spend Hope as a resource to pull off daring feats, while GMs use Fear to throw complications at the party. It's a fluid, initiative-free take on the RPG genre we so closely associate with D&D.
In a video reveal (see above), the Daggerheart design team explains that Hope and Fear covers content they didn't have space for in the core rulebook. Plenty of newer rules are promised, too. We don't know much about the inside of the book, but previous announcements promise "new character options (like the Witch, Warlock, Brawler, and Assassin classes)" and "over 130 adversaries to challenge them with".
A standard copy sells for $39.99. Meanwhile, the deluxe edition (which is exclusive to Critical Role stores) costs $119.99. The higher price comes with a gold foil box, alternate cover art, a GM screen, Fear tokens, rip pads for characters and adversaries, and all manner of polyhedral dice. Critical Role's stores also offer a 20% discount for Demiplane Nexus copies of the book.
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