I am surprised I am still excited for Daggerheart

[Ruin Explorer]

I can see how someone could take issue with the question. I do not believe that there is an issue inherent in the question which prevents it from being answered.

I mean, there absolutely is an inherent issue.

Manga is a medium.

Mediums do not, generally speaking, map to TTRPGs.

Genres tend to map to TTRPGs.

Shonen is a genre, and the genre associated in the mind of many Westerners (especially older ones) with manga/anime.

But as @nyvinter points out, shonen is a truly vast genre. It's almost as expansive as the genre "drama" is re: Western TV/movies, which encompasses any from The Wire to Days Of Our Lives to much of Shakespeare, and probably more expansive than say the genre "thriller" is.

So within shonen, some stuff will potentially map well to Daggerheart, but other stuff - most of shonen, in fact, will not.

Like, if we look at D&D 5E as an example, some shonen does map to it pretty well. As will some non-shonen manga/anime. Like Frieren maps pretty well to D&D. It maps maybe a bit better to some other fantasy RPGs, but it's not bad match for 5E (there will always be magic system discontinuity outside of generic systems). Whereas Jojo is a terrible match for D&D. One Piece, I think kinda almost works (though virtually any superhero TTRPG would do a better job), but Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man are terrible matches (though both do match well with other RPGs, mechanics-wise). Haikyu!!, which is a very popular shonen manga about teenage boys playing volleyball obviously doesn't map well to D&D, and probably won't to Daggerheart either.

So you probably want to look more finely at precise properties/stories/settings if you want to think about which work in which TTRPGs.

 

[Argyle King]

I mean, there absolutely is an inherent issue.

Manga is a medium.

Mediums do not, generally speaking, map to TTRPGs.

Genres tend to map to TTRPGs.

Shonen is a genre, and the genre associated in the mind of many Westerners (especially older ones) with manga/anime.

But as @nyvinter points out, shonen is a truly vast genre. It's almost as expansive as the genre "drama" is re: Western TV/movies, which encompasses any from The Wire to Days Of Our Lives to much of Shakespeare, and probably more expansive than say the genre "thriller" is.

So within shonen, some stuff will potentially map well to Daggerheart, but other stuff - most of shonen, in fact, will not.

Like, if we look at D&D 5E as an example, some shonen does map to it pretty well. As will some non-shonen manga/anime. Like Frieren maps pretty well to D&D. It maps maybe a bit better to some other fantasy RPGs, but it's not bad match for 5E (there will always be magic system discontinuity outside of generic systems). Whereas Jojo is a terrible match for D&D. One Piece, I think kinda almost works (though virtually any superhero TTRPG would do a better job), but Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man are terrible matches (though both do match well with other RPGs, mechanics-wise). Haikyu!!, which is a very popular shonen manga about teenage boys playing volleyball obviously doesn't map well to D&D, and probably won't to Daggerheart either.

So you probably want to look more finely at precise properties/stories/settings if you want to think about which work in which TTRPGs.

I understand it is a medium. That was addressed in previous posts.

 

[SteveC]

As we're getting closer and closer to the final release (and as I write this, it really is released to some customers) I really do wonder what genres of games Daggerheart will be best at. From playing the beta it has a strong focus on action adventure scenes, and there's a definite attempt to bring the game group together. I will be excited to watch an actual play with the final rules and read them for myself. Honestly, I think it's really too early to tell, and the people who could answer this question haven't been talking yet.

 

[Reynard]

From this thread.

First of all, the monkey ranger is awesome.

Second, i like the clean design -- flavorful, but not too many abilities. players should not feel overwhelmed.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

First of all, the monkey ranger is awesome.

He is, and ape-people in general are cool for TTRPGs, but my god I hate his World of Warcraft-ass bow. I really, really, deeply wish that design style for bows would DIAF (his armour is a bit too WoW for my taste too, though that's a much lesser issue). Tiger Lady's bow is absolutely fine (also tiger is a big cutie!).

Second, i like the clean design -- flavorful, but not too many abilities. players should not feel overwhelmed.

I like the general design. I am not confident it is very balanced when I see Advanced Training vs. Loyal Friend. Like, I don't know much about Daggerheart, right, but I am extremely confident that two level-up options for the companion can potentially add significantly more to the survivability of both the ranger and the companion than being able to take the hit for the other, with no reduction at all in the damage etc.

 

[zedturtle]

I like the general design. I am not confident it is very balanced when I see Advanced Training vs. Loyal Friend. Like, I don't know much about Daggerheart, right, but I am extremely confident that two level-up options for the companion can potentially add significantly more to the survivability of both the ranger and the companion than being able to take the hit for the other, with no reduction at all in the damage etc.

In Daggerheart, HP is sort of like hearts in Legend of Zelda. Incoming damage is compared to thresholds to maybe mark 0-3 HP (0 HP marked if the damage is low enough) so each HP represents a big pool of potential damage. You never have a huge amount of them, and not marking your last HP from a big attack will likely keep you up for a round when you would have gone down.

You're right, of course, the system wonks will really have to crunch the numbers to see which (if either) is the better choice, but it's not quite as straightforward as it might seem.

 

[WisdomOfWombats]

I like the general design. I am not confident it is very balanced when I see Advanced Training vs. Loyal Friend. Like, I don't know much about Daggerheart, right, but I am extremely confident that two level-up options for the companion can potentially add significantly more to the survivability of both the ranger and the companion than being able to take the hit for the other, with no reduction at all in the damage etc.

You don't have two choose between two options here. You get both! So in order to gauge balance, you need to compare both Advanced Training & Loyal Friend to the Wayfinder ability Apex Predator.

 

[Reynard]

Finally ordered the core set after rebuilding discretionary funds after the Shadowdark KS. I am sad I missed the deluxe set, but oh well.

 

[zedturtle]

Finally ordered the core set after rebuilding discretionary funds after the Shadowdark KS. I am sad I missed the deluxe set, but oh well.

I'm hoping (and reasonably confident) that the GM Screen will become available separately, as that was the only bit of the deluxe set that appealed.

 

[Reynard]

I'm hoping (and reasonably confident) that the GM Screen will become available separately, as that was the only bit of the deluxe set that appealed.

I hope so, too. I would have liked the whole deluxe set because shiny, but I feel like the screen is a necessity.