13th Age vs Daggerheart
Compare 13th Age and Daggerheart side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| 13th Age | Daggerheart | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, GM-Friendly, Heroic, Ascending AC | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + modifier vs. defense. The escalation die (a d6 that increases each combat round, adding to player attacks) builds momentum. One Unique Things and Icon Relationships tie characters to the setting and drive story. | Roll 2d12 Duality Dice (Hope + Fear) and add modifiers vs. difficulty. Which die rolls higher determines whether the moment swings toward the players (Hope) or the GM gains Fear tokens to spend on complications. In combat, adversary attacks roll d20 + modifier against target's Evasion. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d12 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | ORC License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Pelgrane Press | Darrington Press |
| Year | 2025 | 2025 |
| Best For | Groups who love d20 fantasy combat but want more narrative freedom, improvisational play, and story-driven character connections baked into the mechanics. | Groups who want heroic fantasy with emotionally driven storytelling, where every roll shifts momentum between hope and fear. Great for Critical Role fans and narrative-focused tables. |
| Highlights | Escalation die keeps combat moving, One Unique Things and Icon Relationships create narrative hooks, streamlined monster design makes GM prep fast | Every action roll uses 2d12 Duality Dice, and whether Hope or Fear lands higher hands momentum to the player or the GM. Combat runs fiction-first with no fixed initiative, so the spotlight passes by the action rather than a turn order. Characters equip abilities as domain cards drawn from two domains, building a loadout the player can swap between. |
| Considerations | Tightly coupled to its default setting through the Icon system, some classes have complex trigger systems | The domain-card system runs best with printed cards, though it can be played from the character sheet alone. Players and the GM use asymmetric rules, so each side has its own procedures to learn. Mechanics are tied to the game's own setting and ancestries, which takes work to reskin for another world. |