One of the biggest names in tabletop roleplaying game entertainment, Critical Role, is about to release their own TTRPG system, Daggerheart, through Darrington Press. Though much of Critical Role's history has been using the traditional Dungeons and Dragons rules, Daggerheart is the result of their years of experience and the work of many talented designers to create what they hope will be something magical for any party. It focuses heavily on the t storytelling aspects that can make this type of play magical, with rules that have been tweaked regularly while Daggerheart has been in a year-long beta period.

ScreenRant was recently invited to chat with Daggerheart's Lead Game Designer, Spenser Starke, and Co-Designer, Rowan Hall. Both of these talented individuals radiated with enthusiasm and ion for the project, making me even more excited to see the final result when it launches next week on May 20, 2025. As Spenser describes it, "Daggerheart is a heroic fantasy roleplaying game with a focus on collaborative storytelling. It's designed for long-term campaign play that bridges traditional fantasy tabletop roleplaying with modern streamlined mechanics."

Daggerheart Has Evolved And Grown Better And Better Through During Beta

The Community Helped A Lot With Play Testing

In March 2024, a beta version of Daggerheart was made available for playtesting by the community, with Critical Role's Matthew Mercer even encouraging everyone to try and break the system so that they would know how to improve it. Many of the videos for the game regarding how to play, and even a Critical Role one-shot featuring it, took place during that early period, so I asked Spenser and Rowan how much has changed between then and now.

I think, above all, we're really hoping that folks feel like the notes that they sent over to us from the beta and all the really wonderful input they gave us is implemented in the final version of the game. - Rowan Hall

Rowan answered by saying, "It feels like a lot, I think, on our end, because there's constant fine-tuning. I think, above all, we're really hoping that folks feel like the notes that they sent over to us from the beta and all the really wonderful input they gave us is implemented in the final version of the game." She added that they had 150 thousand people playtesting the beta, which was much more than they had ever expected but resulted in the team getting a lot of useful responses from the community.

Spenser explained that updates to the game were being pushed out every month. He added, "We were really doing our best to kick out new versions based on and based on internal playtesting and seeing all the surveys and stuff come in. So it was a lot about taking all of that data that we got, looking at it, finding the places where there were similar sentiments, and deciding what fell into our design goals." Because of all this updating of Daggerheart, there have been a lot of changes, particularly with many of the game mechanics. Even with the changes, Spenser assures that "people can expect the same philosophy, but the actual mechanics have evolved."

Daggerheart's Flexible Nature Is Great For A Variety Of Party Styles

But Its Main Focus Is Heavy On Storytelling

When I players who enjoy the numbers more than the fantasy.

Spenser answered, "I think the focus of the game is really on the storytelling, and that can come in a variety of ways, right? I don't have to talk in character to be a great storyteller. I don't have to really rely on roleplay-heavy scenes to be a great storyteller. But, I think that for those who are looking for a game where the primary focus is on the story that you're telling together collaboratively, Daggerheart is really going to shine. I think for the people that are looking to min-max, there's some really cool synergy and really fun builds in the game, but all of them are focused around creating a satisfying narrative experience."

He shared that when they design parts of the system, they always try to see what kind of story or tropes are being touched on with the features. They want people to feel like the game's mechanics help them "also feel ed in the types of stories they want to tell."

The way Daggerheart campaigns should be run is to have good communication at the table to make sure all players can have some time in the spotlight. There is no difference in how the game is handled between whether the party is in combat or not, so, as Spenser explained, whatever is happening during the session, the GM and even other players at the table will want to "direct the attention of the table to a player who hasn't gone in a little bit."

He also assures that, with the changes made to Daggerheart, there are new tools to help tables have a good balance. "One of which is a spotlight tracker. So, essentially, you can put tokens on your character sheet and when you do something important in the moment, you can take one of those and put it in the center of the table. Then, you might have three on your sheet and that means you can do three things. But, if I've used those three, they don't refresh until everybody has used them up." This optional tool can help players who are used to the more turn-based systems of DnD to become comfortable with the fluid nature of Daggerheart.

Every Roll Of The Dice Matters In Daggerheart

Hope And Fear Mechanics Come From Each Roll

Daggerheart's designed to make every roll of the dice have a consequence, which helps keep players focused and adds to the narrative. While talking about the mechanics of the game system, Rowan shared that "when you ask a player to make a roll, it either generates hope or it generates fear, which has a consequence in the narrative, but it also has a consequence for what everybody can do moving forward." GMs don't need players to roll for every little thing, and when a roll is called for, it will hold greater weight than some players may be used to.

Rowan went on to say that, "one of the things that I've loved so much in many TTRPGs that we brought into Daggerheart is the understanding that every time you make a roll, the world is going to change. Something is going to happen, and the next moment is going to be different than the one before it. And that kind of eliminates the problem of everybody rolling until they accomplish something." She explained this with the example of if someone rolls to pick a lock and they fail with fear, then the lock pick might break off in the lock and can't be picked by anyone else, thereby changing the situation for the party.

Spenser Starke And Rowan Hall Share Their Favorite Things From Daggerheart

Campaign Frames Could Prove To Be A Hit

There are so many aspects of Daggerheart that sound fresh and unique, and while I talked to Spenser and Rowan, it was easy to see their ion for the project and how much they truly love It. So, I was curious and asked them each what their favorite part of the game is. After some playful bickering over wanting to say the same answer, Spenser talked a bit about the idea of campaign frames.

Spenser said, "I think campaign frames are a really fun way to be able to get a campaign started in Daggerheart and that's the way it's intended to be played." he adds "Campaign frames are something that I feel like are going to be really interesting for people that want to come in with a little more scaffolding. They are sub-genre engines, essentially, that let you play Daggerheart in a specific kind of place with a specific kind of setting. And so that's everything from classic fantasy called Witherwild to Colossus of the Dry Lands, which is a Red Dead Redemption meets Shadow of the Colossus kind of mashup. There's new campaign mechanics and setting stuff. Anyway, I'm really excited for those, I think they open up the door to a lot of cool play."

Rowan added that "campaign frames were an evolution that came fairly late in the process, and so once we sort of initiated it, we got to stretch our wings and make mechanics specific to the campaign frames that maybe didn't need to live in the game, but absolutely everyone needs a horse in Colossus of the Dry lands."

Despite Spenser stealing her initial answer to what her favorite thing about Daggerheart is, Rowan shared that she also loves "the sort of sliding scale that portions of a character's heritage live on. We got started on this immediately as soon as I jumped on, and we were working with Shaun Ellis, our wonderful concept art designer, he worked with us on Candela Obscura. And we looked at how we want folks to be able to approach ancestries, what kind of sandbox we wanted them to have."

Using these sliding scales, players can make their characters truly their own and design them to be however they wish them to be. A character from Draconia could be either more humanoid or more dragon-like, Simians could be anywhere in the range of apes and monkeys, and so forth. Likewise, there is a range of communities and backgrounds for how characters grew up that can help build the story throughout the campaign.

What's Next For Daggerheart

The Full Launch Is Just The Beginning

After Daggerheart has its full release next week, that doesn't mean that Spenser and Rowan's work is done. I asked if there was any hints they could give me about the future of the game and what they are working on for it. While Spenser did say there was nothing they can announce just yet, he assured that they are working hard on making more things for Daggerheart and that they are really excited for what is to come.

We're really excited for you to be able to go out and make Daggerheart your own and make your own stuff for Daggerheart. - Spenser Starke

Spenser also added that they are really looking forward to seeing what the community does with this framework. "We want to those creators who want to dive in, whether you're making homebrew for your table, or whether you're making homebrew for the subreddit, or whether you're making homebrew for the entire internet and you're hoping that, like, everybody picks it up. Whatever scale you want to build this thing for, we're really excited for you to be able to go out and make Daggerheart your own and make your own stuff for Daggerheart."

Ultimately, everyone involved with Daggerheart hopes that the community can see that the design team has been listening and incorporating the from everyone and that the system is one that everyone can have fun with. In the now-iconic words of Matt Mercer, "It has begin."