Reference Pages
Turn Order & Action Economy
Daggerheart's turns don't follow a traditional, rigid format; there is no explicit initiative mechanic and characters don't have a set number of actions they can take or things they can do before the spotlight passes to someone else.
How the Spotlight Moves
A player with the spotlight describes what their character does and the spotlight simply swings to whoever:
The Fiction Would Naturally Turn It Toward
The narrative flow and story logic determines who should act next based on what just happened.
Hasn't Had the Focus in a While
Players who haven't been in the spotlight recently get priority to ensure everyone participates.
A Triggered Mechanic Puts It On
Specific game mechanics (like failed rolls) can determine who gets the spotlight next.
Optional: Spotlight Tracker Tool
If your group prefers a more traditional action economy, you can use tokens to track how many times a player has had the spotlight:
How It Works:
At the start of a session or scene, each player adds a certain number of tokens (we recommend 3) to their character sheet.
Players remove a token each time they take an action.
If the spotlight would swing to someone without any tokens, it swings to someone else instead.
Once every player has used all their available tokens, players refill their character sheet with the same number of tokens as before, then continue playing.