Daggerheart vs Dolmenwood
Compare Daggerheart and Dolmenwood side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Daggerheart | Dolmenwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven | Hexcrawl, Dark Fantasy, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Vancian Casting, Classic Fantasy, Deadly |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll d20 + modifiers vs. ascending AC for attacks and vs. save targets for saving throws (five categories: Doom, Ray, Hold, Blast, Spell). Skill checks and ability checks use d6 + modifiers vs. a target number. Characters choose a kindred (breggle, elf, grimalkin, human, mossling, or woodgrue) and one of nine classes. Three distinct magic systems: arcane (memorized spells), holy (daily prayers), and fairy (glamours and runes). |
| Dice | 2d12 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Low |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) | All Rights Reserved |
| Cost | $$$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Darrington Press | Necrotic Gnome |
| Year | 2025 | 2024 |
| Best For | 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. | Groups who want a deeply detailed fairytale-dark fantasy setting with OSR mechanics, hexcrawl exploration, and rich faction play in an enchanted wood full of fairies, monsters, and intrigue. |
| Highlights | 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. | Richly detailed fairytale-dark setting with competing factions and deep lore, hexcrawl travel system with Travel Points and terrain-based encounters, six unique kindreds including cat-folk grimalkins and fungal mosslings, three distinct magic systems each with their own spell lists |
| Considerations | 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. | Full experience requires three core books (Player's Book, Campaign Book, Monster Book), setting-specific: not a generic OSR toolkit, GM needs the Campaign Book and Monster Book which are sold separately from the Player's Book |