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Ok, but like... we could just make some rules for this, if we wanted to, right?

The number and style of class features classes get in Daggerheart is based on balance and what's expected as a class power (from what I've studied). The design team is a little loose with how these are done sometimes (see the Wizard and Sorcerer getting the D&D 5E prestidigitation arcane/divine split feature which could've been a spell instead).

The thaumaturge is inspired by the old-school D&D 2.5 mystic theurge, which was a partial divine and arcane prestige class. Daggerheart has the Hope and Fear mechanics, and I thought it would be unique to have a class that can interact with Fear, especially because in playtesting GMs would not always spend Fear freely (this was during the summer of 2025, before the Witch was designed, so I was happy to see Darrington Press had a similar idea).

If I were to give the thaumaturge a second class feature, it would be something that interacted with Hope on the field. Something where players could trade Hope between each other would be nice, in my opinion. If you want a second class feature, use this and let your table know the creator said it's ok. ;)

Quirk of Fate
With a touch you can shift the winds of fate between souls. While touching two willing allies, you can transfer one Hope from an ally with 3+ Hope to another ally with less than 3 Hope.

I'm waiting on art from Drew, and I gave him until June because it's a lot of art.

Yes, I'm working on them.

Or, I should say, all the text is complete, and the playtesting went off without a hitch, but I've been waiting on the art.

I had a bad run with two artists who weren't able to complete the work on time, and now I'm waiting on the new folks to finish up, but we're getting close!

I did, lol.

I was very quick when I posted that, and you didn't have all the links up yet.

I WANT IT!!

Daggerheart captures the idea many new D&D players had when they started playing in the latter half of 5E's lifecycle. Having been designed by the company that created Critical Role, one of the larger drivers of D&D's growing popularity in the past decade, this is to be expected.

Generally, when you read RPGs, you can have an image of how it will play in your head, but I wouldn't put so much importance on the actual system for the outcome. People often get into intense flamewars about game editions and rules, when any specific system (in my experience) only accounts for so much for how a game will perform for any given table. Just as important, if not moreso, you should also consider the players, the game master, the story the table is trying to tell, and all the little things going on in the lives of the players at the time.

Picking the right system for the right group is important, but that requires some skill, and there's still no guarantee you'll get one outcome over another. That said, Daggerheart is good for tables that want to tell dynamic stories, but don't want to go too far away from modern WotC RPG design sensibilities (e.g., there are tiered dice outcomes without the procedural/structured systems of PBTA/FitD games, where that mechanic originates).

I haven't made one, but I can work on a version when I have time!

Ticket ID: 310961
Validation: Validated
Status: in review
Initiated: 15 days ago

Thank you for this!

Thanks for looking out!

I've made adjustments for the next update.

Because the rule says "regardless of the outcome", it means whatever would happen in the roll still happens, just that 1 Hope and 1 Fear are also generated; so if the player rolls with Fear, the GM still gets to make a GM move.

Another way to understand the move, is that you're paying 3 Hope to give another player 1 Hope, and the GM 1 Fear. This is useful since many of the Heretic's features are affected by how much Fear the GM has.

It is a class feature. Did you mean something else?

Sweet!!

I can't believe it's been over two years since the last update...

Well, we did get CAIN though...

I would kill for a way to give you money and then you give me all the art as wallpapers for my phone and desktop computer.

Hey, it's free for the next few days.

But, since the characters know that the house must play to 17 or higher it affects their choices, which in turn affects your strategy. What you're asking is similar to saying that players should be able to stop the flop at one card, it's a suggestion that might feel good, but has an affect on the psychology of the game, which would ruin it.

A lot of what characters will or won't hit on is not only based on the cards they draw, but also the flop. In fact, you can better play against them by tricking them into standing when they're below 17 and you have a decent flop. Some characters will also stand or hit if the flop is high compared to their hand.

The rules for the dealer aren't there for the players psychological benefit, though that is a great side-benefit, it's vital to good Blackjack strategy. If you're unhappy that you have to keep drawing cards, you should focus more on your manipulation strategy. If the flop is high, you should manipulate the gamblers into busting, since they'll lose as well.

I don’t think you understand? Like, in the game you are the house, so you must play to 17+. A skill to be able to cheat cards could work, but if you could arbitrarily stand or hit past the flop then you wouldn’t be playing Blackjack.

The dealer always stops at 17+ in Blackjack. Those are the rules.

I really wish there was a reference guide, or a GM screen for this game. Reading the PDF, the game throws a lot of similar sounding terms with different mechanics behind them.

I know it'll click with some play, still, would be nice to have a simple reference sheet with cool art and layout handy.

It's 100% borrows concepts from Dorohedoro, especially sinseeds.

I haven't run/played CAIN yet, but from what I've read it seems the admin has to play pretty fast and rough for the PCs to experience any kind of pressure.

Also, the more exorcists there are the easier time they'll have.

As inspiration (just finished reading it). It's largely a bunch of semi-in-universe prose about Quarcoxa, along with a few basic tables. As a GM, you will be doing most of the heavy lifting here.

Some of the review comments are further down, so I'll write this here for anyone newly coming here to check out the game:

Don't purchase this game, just wait until the final release. The current game is VERY alpha. There's also a lack of information on how some mechanics work, and for a roguelike it gets boring after about 5 runs.

Really wish this game was getting more updates.

It's great, but really needs just a little bit more polish to be astounding. At the higher levels of difficulty especially, there isn't much in the way of strategy, so much as just hoping you get lucky.

There are also certain builds and combinations that are outright broken, from both the player and enemy's perspective.

That's enough internet for one day...