Daggerheart vs Dungeon World
Compare Daggerheart and Dungeon World side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Daggerheart | Dungeon World | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven | Fiction-First, Playbook-Driven, Classic Fantasy, Rules-Light, Heroic, Open Source, GM-Friendly |
| 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 2d6 + ability modifier. On a 10+, you succeed. On a 7–9, you succeed but with a complication, cost, or hard choice. On a 6 or less, the GM makes a move (something bad happens) and you mark XP. Moves are triggered by fictional actions: describe what your character does, and the rules tell you when to roll. |
| Dice | 2d12 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) | Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 |
| Cost | $$$ | $ |
| Publisher | Darrington Press | Sage Kobold Productions |
| Year | 2025 | 2012 |
| 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 D&D-style fantasy adventure (dungeons, monsters, treasure, classes) but with fiction-first PbtA mechanics that keep the pace fast and the spotlight on the narrative. |
| 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. | Full text available free under Creative Commons, playbooks let new players start playing within minutes, GM chapter provides structured principles and moves for running the game, bonds and end-of-session questions award XP for relationships and discoveries rather than only combat |
| 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. | Combat lacks tactical positioning or grid-based options, long campaigns can expose repetitive move structures, damage dice are class-based rather than weapon-based which limits gear choices, no longer actively developed by its creators |