Daggerheart vs Wanderhome
Compare Daggerheart and Wanderhome side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Daggerheart | Wanderhome | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven | Cozy, Narrative, Diceless, GM-Less, Collaborative, Character-Driven, Atmospheric, Rules-Light, Roleplay-Heavy |
| 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. | No dice, no GM. Belonging Outside Belonging engine: earn tokens by inconveniencing yourself or stepping outside your comfort zone; spend tokens to help others, reveal secrets, or achieve difficult actions. Violence is explicitly absent. Playbooks define each character's nature through lists of things they can always do, things that earn tokens, and things that cost tokens. Seasons and nature guide the journey. |
| Dice | 2d12 | Diceless |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) | Proprietary |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Darrington Press | Possum Creek 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 who want gentle, non-violent storytelling about animal-folk journeying through a pastoral world: exploring themes of community, seasons, and small acts of kindness. |
| 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. | Best TTRPG 2021 from Polygon and Dicebreaker, token economy (earn tokens by stepping outside comfort zone, spend them to help others) mechanically enforces non-violent play, Belonging Outside Belonging engine removes dice and GM roles, seasonal calendar structures the journey |
| 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. | Token economy is the only pacing mechanism which can stall play, shared narrative authority can lead to uneven participation, playbook Natures may feel constraining over long sessions, limited published supplemental content |