Quickstart: The Sablewood Messengers (Daggerheart)
Last night we played the quickstart one-shot of Daggerheart instead of our regular session to try it out. I was able to absorb the broad strokes of the rules from the pdf and 1-2 youtube videos quite easily and decided to not worry too much about the details going in and resolve these as we went. For instance I wasn't sure how the Fear resources in relation to the initiative process would work, but once we hit combat it worked quite naturally. In fact, combat is something that I really enjoyed, it was crunchy enough so that even at level 1 there was not just the option of attacking and passing to the next player, but characters had fun abilities to draw on. Also, the fluid sequencing of players kept everyone engaged and actively thinking on how they could contribute, even if it was not their turn. Albeit, it took conscious effort to make sure every player got the same amount of time in the spotlight.
The core mechanic works well to resolve both combat and regular checks, but takes a bit longer to resolve, adding up dice and modifiers and deciding which modifiers apply in first place. I am sure this process will be accelerated a bit with practice and overall contributes nicely towards spicing up situations with different degrees of failure and success. Another highlight for me was the way the countdown die became the central mechanic of the final encounter and worked impressively well to guide the players' actions. I wasn't sure though if I should have told them what it counted or if I should have let them figure it out as they went. Overall this was a really well designed teaching scenario, foregrounding the key mechanics of the game and showcasing their nuances. Not only that, but it was also really well written and interesting as a scenario in and of itself. Little details like a shoe-clothesline in the bar, the Arcanists house opening like a flower and so forth really added a little touch of wonder and magic to the world that made it feel distinct and different from your standard Tolkienesque slightly grim-dark fare.
As to deadliness, balance and long-term play viability I still reserve judgement, but I am excited to play more of this. The quickstart scenario is an easy 9/10 though.