Daggerheart vs Dungeons & Dragons
Compare Daggerheart and Dungeons & Dragons side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Daggerheart | Dungeons & Dragons | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Narrative, Collaborative, Fiction-First, Character Building, Character-Driven, Drama, Combat-Heavy, Resource Management, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Strong GM Support | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Combat-Heavy, Exploration, Resource Management, Strong GM Support, CC-Licensed Rules |
| Core Mechanic | Players roll two d12s, add a trait and modifiers, and meet or beat a Difficulty to succeed. The higher die grants the player Hope or gives the GM Fear, even when the action succeeds. Matching dice produce a critical success. Adversary attacks use d20 plus a modifier against Evasion. | Roll a d20 and add applicable modifiers to meet or beat a target number. Checks and saving throws use a Difficulty Class; attacks use Armor Class. Advantage or disadvantage means rolling two d20s and keeping the higher or lower result. |
| Dice | 2d12, d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL 2.0) | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (SRD 5.2.1); proprietary core books |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community gaming license | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Darrington Press | Wizards of the Coast |
| Year | 2025 | 2024 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want fantasy campaigns built around character relationships and changing ability loadouts. Battles suit tables that share the spotlight without a fixed initiative order. | Groups who want heroic fantasy campaigns with tactical combat and extensive character customization. |
| Highlights | Hope can activate character abilities or add a backstory-based Experience to a roll. Players share the spotlight freely until a failure, a Fear result, or GM intervention shifts it. Each class combines two domains into a loadout of up to five active ability cards. | Weapon Mastery adds effects such as pushing or slowing enemies to qualifying weapon attacks. Class and feat choices let characters develop different roles over twenty levels. Optional Bastions give characters home bases with facilities that produce benefits between adventures. |
| Considerations | The spotlight has no fixed turns or action allotment, requiring the group to share opportunities to act. Recalling inactive domain cards outside a rest can cost Stress. Resting restores resources but also gives the GM Fear to spend on further threats. | Spells and class abilities have separate resource limits and timing rules. Higher-level magic can change travel and encounter assumptions that the DM must prepare for. Social encounters rely on ability checks and DM judgments about NPC attitudes. |