Daggerheart vs Tales of the Valiant
Compare Daggerheart and Tales of the Valiant side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Daggerheart | Tales of the Valiant | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven | Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Tactical |
| 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 + modifier against a target number or opposed check. Uses the core 5e framework: six ability scores, proficiency bonus, advantage/disadvantage. Adds a Talent system for additional character customization, reorganizes spells into numbered Circles, and introduces new Heritages and Lineages for character creation. |
| Dice | 2d12 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) | Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 (Black Flag Reference Document) |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Darrington Press | Kobold Press |
| 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 to continue playing 5e-style fantasy with backwards-compatible adventures but prefer an independent publisher with new heritages, talents, and spell circle organization. |
| 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. | Fully backwards-compatible with 5e adventures and supplements, Talent system adds character customization beyond subclass choice, spell Circles streamline spell level organization, backed by Kobold Press's extensive monster and adventure catalog |
| 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. | Very similar to 5e: groups satisfied with existing 5e rules may not find enough differentiation, still building its own identity separate from D&D, Monster Vault sold separately |