What is Fear in Daggerheart

Fear is the token in my saucer. It is not a mood. It is the GM currency, and if you hoard it the night goes polite. I start a campaign with 1 Fear per player. Twelve is the cap. It carries between sessions.

How you get it

You gain a Fear when a player rolls with Fear, meaning the Fear die came up higher than the Hope die, whether they succeeded or failed. You also gain Fear when the party rests: 1d4 on a short rest, and 1d4 plus the number of PCs on a long rest, and you may tick a long-term countdown. Some features hand you more.

Success with Fear is the generous one. They still did the thing. You still get the token. Spend it.

How you spend it

Spend a Fear to interrupt them, take the spotlight, and make a move. Spend one to make an additional GM move. Spend one to fire an adversary’s Fear Feature, or an environment’s Fear Feature, and that cost sits on top of whatever you already paid to spotlight. Spend one to add an adversary’s Experience to a roll, either as an attack bonus or to raise the Difficulty of a roll against them.

I keep a private band in my notes. Incidental is 0 to 1. Minor is 1 to 3. Standard is 2 to 4. Major is 4 to 8, which is where a Solo or a character-defining beat lives. Climactic is 6 to 12. Do not dump twelve in the first hour of a one-shot.

The landing, again. They make the jump with Fear. I take the token, and I spend it immediately to have the clerk shout, because the feature on the environment is hurry the departure, and the shout is the place taking a turn.

What I would print tonight

Write your opening Fear total at the top of the page, 1 per PC. Under it, write one spend you will actually make in the first scene. Then make it, because the pile is not a score.