Like many tabletop role-playing games, Daggerheart features a distinct combat system designed to enhance the storytelling of your adventuring group. If you’re familiar with systems like Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, you might notice both similarities and differences in their approaches to combat.
Whether you’re a player or a GM, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about Daggerheart’s combat system—covering attack rolls, damage calculations, spells, and more.
When Does Combat Start?
Combat in Daggerheart begins whenever a player character (PC) or an opponent makes an attack.
Unlike certain other tabletop RPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons, there’s no initiative roll or established turn order.
Combat in Daggerheart also lacks restrictions on actions or movements; instead, it employs a system called “the spotlight.”
During combat, players and the GM take turns in “the spotlight,” emphasizing what a PC or an adversary is doing at any given time.
If your group prefers a more structured approach, consider using a “spotlight tracker” that limits players to three actions each.
As combat unfolds, the spotlight shifts between players and the GM. Additionally, the GM can spend Fear to highlight extra enemies.
Combat resolves as it typically does in other tabletop RPGs, with either the PCs or the enemies achieving their goals.
How Combat Works
When engaged in combat in Daggerheart, you should familiarize yourself with key aspects that will enhance your success:
- How to Attack
- How to Calculate Damage
- How to Take Damage
- How to Move
During combat, you’ll alternate in the spotlight and make regular Trait Rolls, Attack Rolls, Spellcast Rolls, and calculate damage afterwards.
How To Attack
When attacking an opponent in Daggerheart, you can choose one of the following methods:
- Attack with a Physical Weapon
- Attack with a Magical Weapon
- Make an Unarmed Attack
- Make a Spellcast Roll
Every time you attack with a physical or magical weapon, perform an Attack Roll by rolling your Duality Dice.
Keep in mind, on Attack Rolls, you still receive Hope or grant the GM Fear depending on the outcomes of your Hope and Fear dice.
During this process, you add modifiers based on the following criteria:
If your roll meets or surpasses your opponent’s Evasion score, your attack lands, allowing you to proceed with damage calculation.
When opponents strike you, they aim to meet or exceed your Evasion score, which you should consider when engaging in battle.
You can also execute an Unarmed Attack, during which you utilize your Strength or Finesse Trait for the roll.
Additionally, you can perform a Spellcast Roll, which works similarly to a standard Attack Roll. Simply roll your Hope and Fear dice and apply relevant modifiers, using your Spellcast Trait as the main modifier instead of a weapon trait.
Keep in mind, when casting a spell, any rules on the Spell Card take precedence over regular Action Roll rules, so pay attention to your Domain Cards.
How To Calculate Damage
After successfully hitting an opponent, you will need to calculate the damage inflicted.
To do this, roll various dice; the type and number of dice depend on two factors:
- Weapon/Spell Damage Die
- Player Proficiency
If your attack was successful with a magical or physical weapon, refer to the weapon’s stats to see what kind of damage die to use.
Physical and magical weapons deal physical and magical damage, respectively, which various foes may resist or be immune to.
Once you know the type of die to use, follow this formula to determine how many dice to roll:
- Number of Damage Dice Rolled = Player Proficiency
For instance, if your player proficiency is two and your damage die is a d8, you’ll roll 2d8 on a successful attack.
If a weapon or ability includes a damage modifier in its stats, you should only add that modifier once to the total of the dice rolled. Proficiency does not affect this.
For Spellcast Attacks, simply refer to the rules on the Spell Card to find out the damage you inflict.
If a Spell Card indicates you roll damage with your Proficiency, it means you will apply the same Proficiency Dice formula described above for your damage calculation.
If your character lands an Unarmed Strike, the damage for that attack is a d4 using your Proficiency.
If your attack is a critical success, you will deal additional damage. Follow this formula for critical damage:
- Crit Damage = Highest Possible Damage Dice Value + Normal Damage Roll
For example, if your weapon does a d8 + 3 physical damage, and you roll a critical success, your total damage would be 16, plus the value of an additional 2d8 rolled, plus three.
How To Take Damage
If adversaries attack you in Daggerheart, they strive to meet or exceed your evasion score. If they succeed, they’ll roll damage against you, based on their abilities, weapons, and features.
Your GM will inform you of the damage roll outcome. After that, refer to your Base Damage Thresholds for your armor, determined during character creation.
Numerous factors like conditions, visibility issues, and other environmental effects can influence damage outcomes and Attack Rolls.
Based on the damage roll result, you will mark HP as follows:
|
Damage Roll |
HP Marked |
|---|---|
|
Lower than Minor Damage Threshold |
1 |
|
Meets Or Exceeds Major Damage Threshold |
2 |
|
Meets or Exceeds Severe Damage Threshold |
3 |
When taking damage, you may also mark an available Armor Slot (assuming you have Armor Score Slots available) to reduce damage by one threshold.
You can only utilize this damage reduction once per attack.
If you exhaust all your Armor Slots
(based on your armor’s stat block), you must spend downtime to repair your armor before reusing this feature.
If you deplete all your HP, you must perform what’s called a Death Move, potentially forcing your character to face the brink between life and death.
How To Move
In Daggerheart, while a traditional grid-based combat system is an option, the game encourages players to use “theater of the mind” along with the ranges listed below:
During combat, you can move to any location within Close Range in addition to taking an Action or Attack Roll.
Occasionally, an effect, attack, or spell will require you to make a Reaction Roll. These function similarly to Action Rolls but do not generate Hope or Fear.
Typically, you’ll use these rolls to evade damage from Area of Effect spells or environmental hazards.
If you wish to move beyond Close Range, you must forfeit an Action or Attack Roll and make an Agility Roll to execute the movement safely.
Players can also initiate Tag Team rolls or Group Actions during combat.
For a Group Action, one player takes charge, gaining modifiers from their allies’ rolls. In a Tag Team Roll, if both players succeed at an attack, you combine your damage rolls.
How Combat Works For GMs
As the GM overseeing combat in Daggerheart, many of the same principles apply to you regarding Attack Rolls, damage calculations, and movement.
However, keep in mind some GM-specific aspects for conducting combat in Daggerheart:
For critical hits, a roll of 20 on the d20 signifies a critical success for the GM, just like in Dungeons & Dragons.
