Critical Role announces release date for D&D alternative Daggerheart

Daggerheart has finally been given an official release date. This upcoming D&D alternative is a character-focussed, heroic tabletop RPG from the makers of Critical Role. Having been in public open Beta since March last year, publisher Darrington Press announced just yesterday that the full game will be released on May 20, 2025, just three-and-a-bit months from now.

First previewed back in 2023 at Gen Con, Daggerheart looks like it could be a strong contender for our best tabletop RPGs list. That's not least thanks to its fascinating Hope and Fear mechanics that see players pooling positive points when rolling well – which can be spent later to aid allies, leverage character experiences to your benefit, and so on. GMs, on the other hand, will hoard negative points when you roll badly, in order to invoke complications, add danger or use powerful adversary abilities, among other things.

There's far more to the game than that, with interesting twists on your average D&D classes, and something called campaign frames, which help GMs and players tailor their campaign to whatever obscure fantasy subgenre takes their fancy.

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Currently in 1.5 Beta, you can explore as a GM or as a Player by downloading the current Daggerheart playtest materials. Darrington Press has specifically asked for players who are willing to help them "Break the game." Should you be willing to do so you can also sign up to the Daggerheart Nexus on the Demiplane app and get cracking digitally on a character design.

You can pre-order the Daggerheart Core Set for $60 right now if you're in the US, or £60 for those in the UK. The set includes a 300 page hardcover rulebook, 279 cards, and a PDF of the rulebook.

For more recommendations, why not check out a tabletop RPG that does moral alignment really well, or take a deep dive into some of the Unearthed Arcana classes for D&D.