Last night I ran my very first session of Daggerheart, and wow! I’ll be honest, I was extra nervous. New game system, new players, and to make it more stressful, two of my original sign-ups dropped out on the day. That left us with three strangers from the internet, gathered to dive into a strange new world together.
And you know what? It was totally awesome.
What I Loved
- Ability and Spell Cards
These were a game-changer for first-time players. Because they had their options right in front of them, they didn’t need to flip through rules or constantly ask what they could do. It gave them a sense of ownership straight away — like, “these are my tools, this is who my character is.” The tactile element also helped — physically handing them their cards made the game feel more immediate and real. Within the first 15 minutes, they were leaning into their abilities, playing off each other, and experimenting without hesitation. It created a really strong first impression of Daggerheart’s design — approachable, intuitive, and cinematic. - Hope and Fear
This mechanic was a blast to use. One of my players was snooping around looking for illicit substances and rolled a success with Fear. That meant, yes, he found them — but he also felt the tap of a guard on his shoulder. When he tried to talk his way out, he rolled well again but still more Fear, so I made him mark a Stress as he stammered through his excuses. The table loved it — success with consequences, perfectly in the spirit of the system. - Death Moves
These created some of the most epic, heroic moments of the night. In the final battle, the tower was collapsing around the party as they fought the demon-archmage and his construct. The construct’s death explosion took two characters down, leaving them with the choice:- Remain unconscious and but be out of it and see what happened
- Accept death, but make a last stand and take a final actio
- Test the fates, roll the duality dice and pray that the hope die rolls higher than the fear die.
- After a bit of above the table discussion and clarity that dead is dead…Both chose to roll, and the table held its breath. One player succeeded and staggered back into the fight. The other scored a critical success — back on their feet at full HP with all stress cleared, ready to fight on. It was cinematic, tense, and completely heroic.
- Narrative Ownership
I loved how the game kept passing the narrative back to the players. Small narrative touches added up to big, shared moments, and the table bought into it completely. Just little things where I encouraged them to narrate what they found in the tower, who did they know the in tent camp. It added to the story telling.
What I Struggled With
- Countdowns
I’ll admit I found the countdown mechanic tricky in practice. I don’t think I ran them exactly as written, but the players didn’t notice and it didn’t slow things down. Something I’ll refine next time.
Session Snapshot
📖 Adventure: Into the Witherwild (Burn After Running RPG)
🎲 Players: 3
⏳ Format: One-shot
🏰 Theme: One tower, one escape, one McGuffin
- Crossed a dangerous river, fought a mutant bear, and even tamed some mutant wasps.
- Talked their way into the catacombs — while discreetly acquiring some illicit materials.
- Crept through the catacombs and slums, evading undead in the dark.
- Climbed the tower and confronted the Archmage, who transformed into a demon with his construct “Henry” and two loyal acolytes.
- Survived a brutal fight where two nearly died before finally slaying the demon and construct, then fled with the Eye.
Final Thoughts
This was a really enjoyable session, and Daggerheart absolutely delivered. It’s rules-light, story-forward, and the mechanics pushed us into memorable, cinematic moments without getting in the way. I’d love to run it again — not just as a one-shot, but as a longer campaign where the Hope and Fear mechanics could really shine across multiple sessions. 2 of the players also mentioned that they’d be up for campaign should I choose to run one – so I’ll take that as win for the system and a win for me!
Next week, it’s back to Tales of the Valiant (session 3 of my Old Margreve Campaign), but Daggerheart has definitely earned a return slot on my GMing table. I’ve also still got Draw Steel and Shadowdark queued up on my one-shot list.
Have you played Daggerheart – what did you think?
What systems other than D&D have you tried?
Any suggestions for more to put on my one-shot list?
Comment below and let me know!
Jambo's GM Journal 
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