Daggerheart vs OpenQuest
Compare Daggerheart and OpenQuest side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Daggerheart | OpenQuest | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven | Skill-Based, Classless, Beginner-Friendly, Deadly, Sword & Sorcery, Mana Points, Roll to Cast, Theater of the Mind, 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 d100 equal to or under a skill percentage to succeed. Doubles on a success (11, 22, 33) are critical successes; doubles on a failure are fumbles. Modifiers apply in meaningful increments of ±20% or ±50% only. Opposed tests have both sides roll, with the highest successful roll winning. Fortune points allow rerolls and can prevent character death. |
| Dice | 2d12 | d100 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) | CC BY 4.0 (SRD) |
| Cost | $$$ | $ |
| Publisher | Darrington Press | D101 Games |
| Year | 2025 | 2021 |
| 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 wanting a streamlined D100 fantasy system that retains the feel of classic BRP (deadly combat, three distinct magic systems, and percentile skills) without hit locations or fiddly modifiers. |
| 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. | Three magic systems (Personal Magic, Divine Magic, and Sorcery) each with distinct mechanics and progression. Simplified modifiers (±20% or ±50% only) reduce bookkeeping without sacrificing impact. Social combat subsystem handles fast talk, oratory, and intimidation with mechanical structure. Full SRD released under CC BY 4.0, which has spawned commercial derivatives like Jackals (Osprey Games). |
| 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. | No hit location system: groups wanting granular wound tracking should look to Mythras or RuneQuest. Low hit point totals make combat swingy from single lucky or unlucky rolls. Non-human character options (Ducks, Elves, Dwarves) are optional rules only. |