In each scene, the GM and players go back and forth describing what happens. If you make a move where the outcome is in question, and the success and failure of that move is interesting to the story, your move is an action. In these cases, the GM usually calls for an action roll to determine how the moment unfolds. However, if an action would either be impossible to perform, or it’s easy enough to pull off without complication, there is no need to roll—you already know the outcome!

When the GM (or your spell, attack, or ability) asks you to make an action roll, you’ll do so by rolling your two Duality Dice. These 12-sided dice embody the way the world’s chance, luck, and fate play a part in the story. Each action roll follows four basic steps, which are detailed later in this section:

Step 1: Pick a Character Trait. Ask the GM what character trait best applies to the roll, and they will set a difficulty for the roll (either openly or privately, at their discretion) based on the details of the scene.

Step 2: Add Extra Dice and Modifiers. Decide if any Experience or other modifiers also apply, and grab any character tokens, advantage/disadvantage dice, or other dice as needed.

Step 3: Roll the Dice. Roll your Duality dice, any additional dice, and your character tokens. Total their result, telling the GM the total and which Duality die rolled higher. “I got a 15 with Fear!”

Step 4: Resolve the Situation. Work together to resolve the outcome of your actions.

Step 1: Pick a Character Trait

When the GM calls for an action roll, your character is usually already starting to perform your move. Depending on the situation and how you’ve described what you’re trying to do, the GM might tell you what character trait to use, or your move might require you to roll using a certain trait (see “Trait Rolls”). Other times, the GM might ask you for more information to help decide: “You want to convince this guard to let you through. How are you speaking to them? Are you trying to intimidate them? To trick them?”

Sometimes, more than one trait makes sense—in this case, the GM might ask you which trait fits best, give you a choice between two, or make a judgment call based on the situation at hand. “As you tell him about the important message you have for the king, I need you to make a roll here to determine whether he can tell you’re lying or not. I’d say Instinct is probably what best applies, does that sound right to you?”

Unless your action you’re making requires a certain trait, feel free to suggest one and describe why it’s a good match for what you’re doing. However, the GM always has final say over which trait applies.

Roll Difficulty

When you decide to make an action roll, the GM typically sets the roll’s difficulty—the number you need to reach when you roll. This number is based on the situation and how effective your approach might be. If you’re making an action roll against an adversary, the difficulty is usually defined by their stat block.

The GM can choose to share this number or keep it to themself. Even if they don’t tell you the difficulty, they should make any potential consequences of your actions clear (unless the consequences aren’t something your character would reasonably be aware of). For example, “You’re putting yourself in melee with this guy, you might take a hit in return,” or “If you fail this jump, you might not make it to the other side.”

Step 2: Add Extra Dice and Modifiers

Once you know which trait to use, it’s time to figure out if any other dice or modifiers apply to the roll. Set aside any dice you need, such as the following:

Duality Dice. You roll your Hope and Fear die with every action roll.

Advantage or Disadvantage. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll (see “Advantage and Disadvantage”), set aside that d6 for your roll. If you’re rolling with disadvantage, make sure your disadvantage die is a distinct color, so you can remember which die to subtract from the result.

Class Features, Subclass Cards, and Domain Cards. Some class features allow you to add extra dice to your roll (or allow another character to give you a die). For example, a Bard can give you a Rally die, which you can add to an action, reaction, or damage roll of your choice. Similarly, some of your subclass and domain cards might grant you a bonus die. Set these aside for your roll.

Other Dice. Occasionally, other effects might give you an extra die.

Then count the modifiers that apply to your action roll, setting aside that many character tokens to help you keep track (see “Counting Character Tokens” below). Modifiers can include the following:

Chosen Trait. Add the modifier for whichever trait you and your GM chose for this roll (and remember that some modifiers are negative).

Experience. If you have an Experience (or several) that you think applies to the situation, describe how your Experience helps your chance of success, then spend one Hope per Experience to add its modifier to your roll. The GM may ask you for more information to justify that Experience, but you have final say (within reason) over whether your Experience applies.

Class Features, Subclass Cards, and Domain Cards. Sometimes these grant you a modifier to your roll, so keep an eye out.

Other Bonuses or Penalties. Add any other bonuses or penalties, such as from the GM, the items you have equipped, and other sources.

Tip: If you consistently use the same Experience on every roll, it’s very likely the GM will require you to narrow the scope of your Experience or change it altogether. The purpose of Experience is to reflect the way your character has specialized in something important, not to give you a bonus to all your actions.

Counting Character Tokens

Once you declare what modifiers you’re applying to your action roll, grab that many character tokens (see “What Do You Need to Play” in the introduction).

Tokens are never rolled for a random value; they are simply +1 counters you add to your hand to aid in counting your results. Before adding them to a roll, figure out the sum of all of your modifiers, then take that many tokens. For example, if you have a -1 to Agility and a +2 modifier from an Experience you’re utilizing, you have a +1 total modifier to the roll, so set aside one token to represent that.

Tip: Occasionally, your total modifier on a roll might be negative; in this case, you can still use the tokens, but remember they’ll signify the number you need to subtract from the result, not add.

Step 3: Roll the Dice

Once you’ve gathered all your dice and tokens from step 2, roll them all at the same time. Counting each token as 1, add all your tokens and dice rolls together—but keep an eye out for numbers you need to subtract, such as your disadvantage die or tokens that represent a negative modifier.

Then tell the GM the total number you rolled, along with which Duality Die rolled higher—“I rolled a 15 with Fear!”

Tip: If you determined in the previous step that your roll has a negative modifier and/or disadvantage, be sure to subtract the tokens and/or die representing this, rather than add them.

Adding Bonuses to Rolls

Some features allow you (or another player) to add a bonus to your action rolls, damage rolls, or reaction rolls. Unless otherwise specified, all bonuses must be added before you make the roll. For example, if a Bard gives you a Rally die, you must choose to use it before you roll, rather than after you see the numbers on the other dice.

A few features let you affect a roll after the result has been totaled, either by applying a bonus (like the Seraph’s Prayer Dice feature) or by allowing for a reroll (like the Faerie’s Luckbender feature). At the GM’s discretion, you can generally use these after the GM has said whether a roll succeeded or failed, but you must do so before the narrative consequences unfold or another dice roll is made.

Step 4: Resolve the Situation

Each time you make an action roll, the scene changes in some way. The GM always describes how the world reacts to the action that’s been taken, but depending on what your action result is, the situation changes differently.

If your total meets or exceeds the difficulty set by the GM, the action succeeds—you get what you want. If the total is below the difficulty, the action fails—you don’t get what you want—but with one exception! As described in the “Duality Dice” section, if your Duality Dice both roll the same number, you’ve rolled a Critical Success (even if your total wasn’t enough to meet the difficulty).

Based on your roll total, the GM uses the following guide to decide how the narrative moves forward:

On a critical success, you get what you want and a little extra. Gain a Hope and clear a Stress. If you made an attack roll, you also deal extra damage equal to the maximum value of your damage dice (see “Calculating Damage”).

On a success with Hope, you pull it off well and get what you want. Gain a Hope.

On a success with Fear, you get what you want, but it comes with a cost or consequence.

On a failure with Hope, things don’t go to plan. You probably don’t get what you want and there are consequences, but you gain a Hope.

On a failure with Fear, things go very poorly. You probably don’t get what you want, and there is a major consequence or complication because of it.

After announcing your roll’s result, always look to the GM to find out what happens next. (“Making Moves” in chapter 3 guides the GM on resolving action rolls and making GM moves.)

Story Is Consequence

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 should constantly be evolving based on the successes and failures of the characters.

A “failure” doesn’t mean you simply don’t get what you want, especially if that would result in a moment of inaction. The game is more interesting when every action the players take yields an active outcome—something that changes the situation they’re in.

For example, if you fail a roll to pick a lock, it’s not just that the door doesn’t open. On a failure with Hope, it might mean you can hear the rumble of footsteps coming down the hall behind you—the enemies you previously escaped before are getting close, and you’re going to have to act quickly to hide, or take a different approach and find a way through. On a failure with Fear, the door might’ve been magically warded to keep thieves away, and its arcane alarm triggers. Meanwhile, on a success with Fear, you might succeed in unlocking the door, but you’re spotted by the enemies within. These consequences are what make the game interesting and drive forward the adventure you’re all on together.

Every GM and player has a different level of interest and comfort in this roll-by-roll improvisation. Some groups may prefer a largely predetermined world—for example, the GM could’ve previously decided there are two guards on patrol, and you roll simply to learn whether you unwittingly run into both of them, whether one rounds the corner but you catch them unawares, or whether you escape both guards without notice. In other groups, the GM might not have decided if any guards exist at all—but after you roll a failure with Fear, the GM weaves two guards into the story you’re creating together. Either approach is okay, and you’ll likely use a mix of both in each session! But Daggerheart shines when each player feels free to affect a story that doesn’t exist yet, rather than waiting for a predetermined story to unfold. Part of the game’s fun is discovering those unplanned moments together.

Example Action Roll

Sara’s Rogue, Isabella, is trying to run across a narrow parapet to stop the mage that is raining spellfire down on her party. The GM tells Sara to make an Agility roll with a difficulty of 15. Isabella’s Agility is 2, so Sara rolls the Duality Dice, adds them together, then adds two tokens (representing her +2 modifier from Agility) to get her total.

Here are examples of the five possible results of her roll:

Failure with Fear

Sara rolls 3 on the Hope die and 6 on the Fear die, plus 2 from Agility for a result of 11 with Fear. The GM describes the mage responding quickly to Isabella’s maneuver, making an attack roll. It is successful, so the mage knocks her off the parapet with a blast of magical fire and deals damage. Isabella crashes down to the level below and must find a way back up if she plans to face the mage head-on again.

Failure with Hope

Sara rolls 6 on the Hope die and 3 on the Fear die, plus 2 from Agility. That’s an 11 with Hope. 11 isn’t enough to make it across safely, so on a failure, the GM makes a move, narrating that the mage sees Isabella coming and makes an attack, which succeeds. The mage’s blast knocks Isabella off-balance, leaving her dangling from the parapet, her progress stalled and position precarious. Isabella gains a Hope, but her friends are still in the line of fire and may need to help Isabella reach safety.

Success with Fear

Sara rolls 5 on the Hope die and a 9 on the fear die, plus 2 from Agility. That’s a 16 with Fear, a success. The GM asks Sara to describe how she races across the parapet, dodging the mage’s blasts. After her description, the GM takes over, saying that once Isabella has crossed, she faces her foe head-on, blocking them from attacking the rest of the party. But then the mage reaches out with magic and crumbles the parapet behind Isabella, leaving her trapped and unable to move back to safety. At least the mage isn’t attacking her friends, right?

Success with Hope

Sara rolls 10 on the Hope die and 6 on the Fear die, plus 2 from Agility. That’s an 18 with Hope, a success. She immediately gains a Hope, then the GM asks her to describe what it looks like as Isabella races across the parapet and interrupts the mage’s assault on the party. Since Sara rolled a success with Hope, the GM asks what the players want to do next.

Critical Success

Sara rolls 8 on the Hope die and 8 on the Fear die. That’s a critical success! Isabella immediately gains a Hope and clears a Stress. The GM offers Sara a choice of two extras - she can deal damage to the mage or gain advantage on the next roll against the mage. Sara describes how Isabella races across the parapet and lands a telling blow on the mage, not just stopping their attacks on the party, but dealing her weapon damage as well. Since a critical success counts as a roll with Hope, the GM asks the players what they want to do next.

Special Action Rolls

Many action rolls just use the above rules. However, some situations require special types of action rolls—these use the following rules.

Trait Rolls

A trait roll is an action roll that specifically calls for a certain character trait to be used. These rolls often appear on Domain Cards, and say something like “Presence Roll” or “Agility Roll (12).” If there is a number in parentheses after the trait, that is the difficulty you must meet in order to succeed. If there is no number, the difficulty is up to the GM to decide.

Though a trait roll requires you to roll using that trait modifier, you can still add your Experience and other bonuses to the roll.

Attack Rolls

When you make an action roll with the intent to do harm to an enemy, you’re making an attack roll. Reference the weapon or spell you’re using for the attack to determine what trait it uses. We’ll talk more about spellcast rolls in the next section, but for a standard physical or magic weapon attack, use the character trait the weapon requires (see “Equipment”), as well as any Experience or other modifiers that are applicable, and resolve it as you would a normal action roll.

If you succeed, make a Damage Roll (see “Damage Rolls”) to determine how much harm you do to the target.

By default, each attack roll can only target one enemy. But if a spell or ability allows you to target multiple enemies, roll once and apply that result to all of the enemies the attack can hit. If the roll meets or exceeds the difficulty of any of those enemies, the attack is successful against that target (but not necessarily against other targets).

Unarmed Attack Rolls

When making an attack without a weapon—for example, a punch or kick—make an attack roll as usual. This attack often uses Strength or Finesse, but could be any trait depending on how you describe the attack. On a success, your damage dice are a number of d4s equal to half your proficiency (rounded up). All unarmed attacks deal physical damage.

Spellcast Rolls

Spellcast rolls are a type of action roll that’s used when you’re creating significant magical effects (often via a Domain Card). These are called for like this: “Spellcast Roll” or “Spellcast Roll (14)”. Instead of referring to a specific stat on the character sheet, these rolls use the Spellcast stat of your class (which you can find on the Subclass Foundation card).

As with Trait Rolls, if there is a number in parentheses, that is the difficulty they must pass in order for it to succeed.

If a spellcast roll is intended to damage a target, it’s also considered an attack roll.

You generally need to be using a specific spell to make a spellcast roll—you can’t just make up magic effects (like forming a bridge out of vines) that aren’t on your character sheet or cards. However, at the GM’s discretion, they might allow you to creatively apply an existing spell in an unusual way. And you can always flavor your magic to match the kind of character you’re playing, but that flavor shouldn’t give you access to effects you wouldn’t normally be able to perform with your spells.

Example 1: If a Sorcerer is trying to reach a cliff high above him and doesn’t have a spell or ability that lets him get there, he wouldn’t be able to just make a generic Spellcast roll to have magic lift him up into the air and fly him to the cliff. He would need a specific spell or ability that would provide him that kind of magic.

Example 2: If a Wizard wants their Rune Circle spell they just picked up at Level 3 to erupt from their wand in sparks, form into a galloping, flaming stallion that circles them– and this is the reason why the Rune Circle gives them protection from enemies, that’s awesome and should be highly encouraged. But if they wanted it to do extra damage to an enemy because of this narration, that wouldn’t normally be permitted.

Any time you cast a spell, the text tells you when the effect expires. It might be temporary (in which case the GM can spend their move to end the spell), at the next short or long rest, etc. If the spell doesn’t note an expiration, it stays up until you choose to end it. If you ever want to end a spell earlier than when it would normally expire, you can always choose to do so.

If you ever want to make a Spellcast roll, but you don’t have a Foundation that gives you the needed Spellcast ability, you won’t be able to make the roll.

Group Action Rolls

When multiple PCs are taking an action together—such as sneaking through the enemy camp as a group—the party nominates a leader of the action, then each player describes how they collaborate with the other PCs on the task. The action’s leader makes an action roll as usual, while the other PCs make a reaction roll using whichever traits they and the GM decide fit best (see “Reaction Rolls”).

The leader’s action roll gains a +1 bonus for each reaction roll that succeeds, and they gain a -1 penalty for each reaction roll that fails.

If the action tracker is in use, each PC who participates in a group roll adds a token to the tracker, even those who make a reaction roll instead of an action roll.

Tip: If you want to assist an ally with their own action, use Help an Ally instead (see “Using Hope ”),

Example: A party has just retrieved a stolen amulet from an ancient stronghold and are rushing out as it crashes down around them. The GM calls for a group action roll as they all try to escape. They elect the Ranger to be the leader, since that character would remember the path the best. The other party members explain how they work with the others to escape:

• The Guardian says they are going to use their size to shield the others from the falling debris, so the GM has them make a Strength reaction roll. They get a 14—a success—giving the Ranger a +1 modifier. The GM asks the Guardian to describe how they shield their friends.
• The Rogue says they are running alongside the Ranger to act as a second set of eyes in case there is a faster route. The GM has them make an Instinct reaction roll. It’s a 19—also a success—so they give the Ranger an additional +1 modifier. The GM asks the Rogue to describe what quicker path they notice that helps.
• The Wizard says that they noticed the stronghold begin to fall once the amulet was taken, so they try to understand what kind of magic caused the collapse and reverse it. The GM has them make a Knowledge reaction roll. It’s a 12—not quite enough—giving the Ranger a -1 Modifier. They ask the Wizard what happens as they are studying the amulet that causes them to drop behind for a moment.
• The Bard says that they notice the Wizard is looking like they’re not going to make it and turn back to reach out a hand in a moment of desperation, yelling “I’ve got you! We’re not leaving you behind!” The GM has them make a Presence reaction roll. It’s a 16, a success, giving the Ranger an additional +1 modifier. The GM asks the Bard and the Wizard to describe how this rescue happens successfully.

Now that everybody else has acted, the Ranger takes the total of the modifiers, in this case +2, and makes an Agility roll, hoping to lead the party to safety while dodging debris and pointing out hazards. It’s a 16 with Fear. The GM says they all take a point of Stress—but they also emerge from the stronghold just in the nick of time, the ancient stones collapsing around them.

Tag Team Rolls

Each player can choose one time per session to spend 3 Hope and initiate a Tag Team Roll with another PC. When you do, work with your chosen partner to describe how your two characters combine their actions in a unique and exciting way. Both you and your partner make separate action rolls, but before resolving the roll’s outcome, choose one of the rolls to apply for both of your results. If the chosen roll is with Hope, the PC whose action roll was chosen gains that Hope.

If the action tracker is active, Tag Team rolls only take one action token instead of two.

Tag Team rolls become especially powerful on attack rolls: on a successful Tag Team attack, you both roll damage as usual, then add it together to determine the damage dealt.