Daggerheart’s new Warlock class added a fresh source of drama to my campaign
Fantasy TTRPG Daggerheart’s new Warlock class doesn’t skimp on opportunities for dramatic storytelling and consequence-driven roleplay. What’s more, the innovation and commitment to flavour at the heart of the class’s design suggest that Daggerheart has a bright future ahead.
Though the initial slew of Daggerheart classes is generous in its scope, one of my players came to me wanting to play a magic user who was bound in a pact to dark forces, much like your typical DnD warlock. Fortunately for us, Daggerheart recently released a range of classes available for playtest, including its own take on the Warlock. Fortunately for us, the new classes are free on the Void, Daggerheart’s repository for playtest content.
Daggerheart is no stranger to baking narrative flavour into its game mechanics; however, the Warlock’s core class feature is especially impressive. As a Warlock, you get to select two Boons to which your patron is aligned. This is extremely open-ended and can reflect anything from a conventional demonic pact to – as we saw in our campaign – an agreement with a sentient undead throne.
You can call on these boons to gain a small bonus on any roll to which they might be applicable, provided you spend a Favour. Favour represents just that – the extent to which your patron approves of you (or is willing to put up with your nonsense). Favour can be gained by spending time venerating your patron during Long Rests. However, there’s plenty of room for an enterprising GM to award Favour for other reasons, should they feel the player has earned it.
This kind of creative, story-first design is a breath of fresh air. By ensuring its new classes give players further scope to express themselves, Daggerheart is slowly but surely raising expectations. While it’s still early days for Daggerheart, this trend bodes extremely well for the game’s future.
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