Reference Pages
Making Moves & Taking Action
Any time a character does something to advance the story, such as speaking with another character, interacting with the environment, making an attack, casting a spell, or using a class feature, they are making a move.
Action Rolls
Any move where success would be trivial or failure would be boring automatically succeeds, but any move that's difficult to accomplish or risky to attempt triggers an action roll.
Duality Dice
All action rolls require a pair of d12s called Duality Dice. These are two visually distinct twelve-sided dice, with one die representing Hope and the other representing Fear.
To make an action roll, you roll the Duality Dice, sum the results, apply any relevant modifiers, and compare the total to a Difficulty number to determine the outcome.
Action Roll Outcomes
Success with Hope
If your total meets or beats the Difficulty AND your Hope Die shows a higher result than your Fear Die, you succeed and gain a Hope.
Success with Fear
If your total meets or beats the Difficulty AND your Fear Die shows a higher result than your Hope Die, you succeed with a cost or complication, but the GM gains a Fear.
Failure with Hope
If your total is less than the Difficulty AND your Hope Die shows a higher result than your Fear Die, you fail with a minor consequence and gain a Hope, then the spotlight swings to the GM.
Failure with Fear
If your total is less than the Difficulty AND your Fear Die shows a higher result than your Hope Die, you fail with a major consequence and the GM gains a Fear, then the spotlight swings to the GM.
Critical Success
If the Duality Dice show matching results, you automatically succeed with a bonus, gain a Hope, and clear a Stress. If this was an attack roll, you deal critical damage.
Note: A Critical Success counts as a roll "with Hope."
Failing Forward
In Daggerheart, every time you roll the dice, the scene changes in some way. There is no such thing as a roll where "nothing happens," because the fiction constantly evolves based on the successes and failures of the characters.
Action Roll Procedure
Pick an Appropriate Trait
Some actions specify which trait applies; otherwise, the GM tells the acting player which character trait best applies to the action being attempted. If more than one trait could apply, the GM chooses or lets the acting player decide.
Determine the Difficulty
Some actions specify the Difficulty; otherwise, the GM determines it based on the scenario. The GM can choose whether to share the Difficulty with the table, but should communicate the potential consequences of failure.
Apply Extra Dice and Modifiers
The acting player decides whether to Utilize an Experience or activate other effects, then adds the appropriate tokens and dice (such as advantage or Rally dice) to their dice pool.
Note: Unless specifically allowed, a player must declare the use of any Experiences, extra dice, or other modifiers before the roll.
Roll the Dice
The acting player rolls their entire dice pool and announces the results in the format of "[total result] with [Hope/Fear]"—or "Critical Success!" in the case of matching Duality Dice.