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MAKING MOVES & TAKING ACTION

Any time a character does something to advance the story, such as speaking with another character, interacting with the environment, making an attack, casting a spell, or using a class feature, they are making a move.

ACTION ROLLS

Any move where success would be trivial or failure would be boring automatically succeeds, but any move that’s difficult to accomplish or risky to attempt triggers an action roll.

OVERVIEW

All action rolls require a pair of d12s called Duality Dice. These are two visually distinct twelve-sided dice, with one die representing Hope and the other representing Fear.

To make an action roll, you roll the Duality Dice, sum the results, apply any relevant modifiers, and compare the total to a Difficulty number to determine the outcome:

  • Success with Hope: If your total meets or beats the Difficulty AND your Hope Die shows a higher result than your Fear Die, you rolled a “Success with Hope.” You succeed and gain a Hope.
  • Success with Fear: If your total meets or beats the Difficulty AND your Fear Die shows a higher result than your Hope Die, you rolled a “Success with Fear.” You succeed with a cost or complication, but the GM gains a Fear.
  • Failure with Hope: If your total is less than the Difficulty AND your Hope Die shows a higher result than your Fear Die, you rolled a “Failure with Hope.” You fail with a minor consequence and gain a Hope, then the spotlight swings to the GM.
  • Failure with Fear: If your total is less than the Difficulty AND your Fear Die shows a higher result than your Hope Die, you rolled a “Failure with Fear.” You fail with a major consequence and the GM gains a Fear, then the spotlight swings to the GM.
  • Critical Success: If the Duality Dice show matching results, you rolled a “Critical Success” (“Crit”). You automatically succeed with a bonus, gain a Hope, and clear a Stress. If this was an attack roll, you deal critical damage.

Note: A Critical Success counts as a roll “with Hope.”

After resolving the action roll, the table works together to weave the outcome into the narrative and play continues.

FAILING FORWARD

In Daggerheart, every time you roll the dice, the scene changes in some way. There is no such thing as a roll where “nothing happens,” because the fiction constantly evolves based on the successes and failures of the characters.

PROCEDURE

The following steps describe in more detail the procedure that all action rolls utilize:

STEP 1: PICK AN APPROPRIATE TRAIT

Some actions and effects specify in their description which trait applies to the roll; otherwise, the GM tells the acting player which character trait best applies to the action being attempted. If more than one trait could apply to the roll, the GM chooses or lets the acting player decide.

STEP 2: DETERMINE THE DIFFICULTY

Some actions and features say in their description what the Difficulty is. Otherwise, the GM determines the Difficulty based on the scenario. The GM can choose whether to share the Difficulty with the table. In either case, the GM should communicate the potential consequences of failure to the acting player.

STEP 3: APPLY EXTRA DICE AND MODIFIERS

The acting player decides whether to Utilize an Experience or activate other effects, then, if applicable, adds the appropriate tokens and dice (such as advantage or Rally dice) to their dice pool.

Note: Unless an action, ability, or feature specifically allows for it, a player must declare the use of any Experiences, extra dice, or other modifiers before the roll.

STEP 4: ROLL THE DICE

The acting player rolls their entire dice pool and announces the results in the format of “[total result] with [Hope/Fear]”—or “Critical Success!” in the case of matching Duality Dice.

Example: A player is making an action roll with a +1 in the relevant trait and no other modifiers; they roll the Duality Dice and get a result of 5 on their Hope Die and 7 on their Fear Die, then announce “I rolled a 13 with Fear!”

STEP 5: RESOLVE THE OUTCOME

The active player and the GM work together, along with the suggestions and support of the rest of the table, to resolve the outcome of the action.

GM MOVES AND ADVERSARY ACTIONS

GMs also make moves. They should consider making a move when a player does one of the following things:

  • Rolls with Fear on an action roll.
  • Fails an action roll.
  • Does something that would have consequences.
  • Gives them a golden opportunity.
  • Looks to them for what happens next.

After the GM turn is done, the spotlight goes back to the PCs.

Many adversaries and environments have Fear features, especially powerful or consequential moves that the GM must spend Fear to activate.

Note: This Fear is in addition to any Fear the GM has previously spent to seize the spotlight or activate another action or ability.

ADVERSARY ACTIONS

When play passes to the GM, the GM can make a GM move to spotlight an adversary. A spotlighted adversary can:

  • Move within Close range and make a standard attack
  • Move within Close range and use an adversary action
  • Clear a condition
  • Sprint within Far or Very Far range on the battlefield
  • Do anything else the fiction demands or the GM deems appropriate

The GM can spend additional Fear to spotlight additional adversaries. Once the GM has finished, the spotlight swings back to the PCs.

SPECIAL ROLLS

Some rolls have unique specifications or otherwise modify the action roll procedure: trait rolls, Spellcast Rolls, attack rolls, and damage rolls. Unless otherwise noted, you can apply any bonus, modifier, or effect to a special roll as if it were a standard action roll.

TRAIT ROLLS

An action roll that specifies which character trait applies to it is called a trait roll. In the text of a feature or effect, a trait roll is referenced with the format “[Trait] Roll (Difficulty)” (e.g., “Agility Roll (12)”). If the text of an effect doesn’t specify a trait roll’s Difficulty, the GM sets the Difficulty based on the circumstances.

Features and effects that affect a trait roll also affect any action roll that uses the same trait, including attack rolls, Spellcast rolls, and standard action rolls.

Example: The katari’s ancestry feature “Feline Instincts,” which allows the katari to reroll an Agility Roll, can also be used on a standard action roll using Agility to traverse dangerous terrain or on an attack roll made with a weapon that uses Agility.

SPELLCAST ROLLS

Spellcast Rolls are trait rolls that require you to use your Spellcast trait. Your Spellcast trait, if you have one, is determined by your subclass.

Spellcast Rolls are only made when a character uses a feature that requires one. A successful Spellcast Roll activates the effect as described by the feature.

Notes:

A Spellcast Roll that can damage a target is also considered an attack roll.

When you cast a spell, the text tells you when the effect ends. The GM can spend a Fear to end a temporary effect. If your spell doesn’t specify when it ends, it ends when you choose or at a natural moment of the story. You can choose to end your spell early.

You can cast and maintain the effects of more than one spell at the same time.

REACTION ROLLS

A reaction roll is made in response to an attack or a hazard, representing a character’s attempt to avoid or withstand an imminent effect.

Reaction rolls work like action rolls, except they don’t generate Hope or Fear, don’t trigger additional GM moves, and other characters can’t aid you with Help an Ally.

If you critically succeed on a reaction roll, you don’t clear a Stress or gain a Hope, but you do ignore any effects that would have impacted you on a success, such as taking damage or marking Stress.

GROUP ACTION ROLLS

When multiple PCs take action together, the party chooses one PC to lead the action. Each other player then describes how their character collaborates on the task. The leader makes an action roll as usual, while the other players make reaction rolls using whichever traits they and the GM decide fit best.

The lead character gains a +1 bonus to their lead action roll for each of these reaction rolls that succeeded and a –1 penalty for each these reaction rolls that failed.

TAG TEAM ROLLS

Each player can, once per session, initiate a Tag Team Roll between their character and another PC by spending 3 Hope. The players work with one another to describe how they combine their actions in a unique and exciting way. Both players make separate action rolls; before resolving the roll’s outcome, choose one of the rolls to apply to both actions. On a roll with Hope, all PCs involved gain a Hope. On a roll with Fear, the GM gains a Fear token for each PC involved.

On a successful Tag Team attack roll, both players roll damage and add the totals together to determine the damage dealt, which is resolved as if it came from a single source. If the attacks deal different types of damage, the players choose which type to deal.

Notes:

A Tag Team Roll counts as a single action roll for the purposes of any countdowns or features that track action rolls.

Though each player may only initiate one Tag Team Roll per session, one PC can be involved in multiple Tag Team Rolls.

ADVANTAGE & DISADVANTAGE

Some features and effects let you roll with advantage or disadvantage on an action or reaction roll:

  • Advantage represents an opportunity that you seize to increase your chances of success. When you roll with advantage, you roll a d6 advantage die with your dice pool and add its result to your total.
  • Disadvantage represents an additional difficulty, hardship, or challenge you face when attempting an action. When you roll with disadvantage, you roll a d6 disadvantage die with your dice pool and subtract its result from your total.

Advantage or disadvantage can be granted or imposed by mechanical triggers or at the GM’s discretion. When a PC aids you with Help an Ally, they roll their own advantage die and you add it to your total.

Advantage and disadvantage dice cancel each out, one-for-one, when they would be added to the same dice pool, so you’ll never roll both at the same time. If you have advantage or disadvantage from other sources that don’t affect your own dice pool, such as another player’s Help an Ally move, their effects stack with your rolled results.

HOPE & FEAR

Hope and Fear are metacurrencies representing the cosmic forces that shape the events of your table’s story. Hope powers PC abilities and features, while Fear powers the abilities of the GM and the adversaries and environments they control.

HOPE

Every PC starts with 2 Hope at character creation and gains more throughout play. A PC can have a maximum of 6 Hope at one time, and Hope carries over between sessions.

Players can spend Hope to:

  • Help an Ally
    When you Help an Ally who is making an action roll, describe how you do so and roll an advantage die. Multiple players can spend Hope to help the same acting player, but that player only adds the highest result to their final total.
  • Utilize an Experience
    When you Utilize an Experience on a relevant roll, add its modifier to the result. You can spend multiple Hope to utilize multiple Experiences.
  • Initiate a Tag Team Roll
    Spend 3 Hope to initiate a Tag Team roll, combining the actions of two PCs into one impressive act of synergy. When you make a Tag Team roll, both players roll their own rolls and choose which set of results to apply to the outcome.
  • Activate a Hope Feature
    A Hope Feature is any effect that allows (or requires) you to spend a specified amount of Hope to activate it. Class Hope features are class-specific features, detailed on your character sheet, that cost 3 Hope to activate.

Note: When using a Hope Feature, if you rolled with Hope for that action, the Hope you gain from that roll can be spent on that feature (or toward it, if it requires spending multiple Hope).

FEAR

The GM gains Fear whenever a player rolls with Fear and can spend Fear at any time to make or enhance a GM move or to use a Fear Feature. The GM can have up to 12 Fear at one time. Fear carries over between sessions.