In March, I wrote a post about Daggerheart, Critical Role’s TTRPG system, when it was first announced with an open beta. I had reservations based on their initial announcements, but wanted to reserve judgment until there was more released and if I would have the opportunity to play. As it turns out, Badowolf Adventure Studios ran a Daggerheart one-shot which served as an introduction to the system. Now that I have played the game, I feel my thoughts are different than they were a few months ago.

When I originally wrote this post, I mentioned being skeptical about combat. In Daggerheart, there isn’t an initiative order meaning the players decide who goes first. When signing up for gaming events at conventions, it’s random people paired together. I didn’t find it awkward when we figured out who would go. There was always one player who wanted to start and I found that as we all worked together, we would call out who hadn’t gone yet. By not having an initiative order, players can be strategic and pick who goes based on what character is doing what. Another slight concern was how the DM would go after a player rolls higher in Fear. I wasn’t sure how often that would be. During our session, our group rolled pretty well, but I didn’t think it slated the game one way or another. With a one-shot, it’s tough to tell, but I left feeling much better about the mechanics than I had felt before.

Our session was only an hour, so it was difficult to interpret much from one session. I left feeling positive about Daggerheart. It’s one thing to hear all the announcements and another to actually get to play. I’m curious to see how Daggerheart will be finalized upon its release and if Critical Role‘s next campaign will be with Daggerheart.